It can be understood how numerous issues present themselves in diverse political situations by using the example of the contemporary United States. The issue of race has long been prominent in American history, and my personal values and assumptions about the issue impacted the choice of the topic. The terrible yet eye-opening events of May 31 and June 1 in 1921 in Tulsa served as a reminder of the dark side of people. As African Americans’ economic prosperity rose, a sense of fear and jealousy spread among Tulsa’s white residents. The Tulsa Race Massacre should be viewed as the critical point where racism and intolerance can lead the community. The significance of the issue cannot be dismissed even today, more than 100 years after the event. Therefore, the research question is to evaluate the reasons and the outcomes of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Moreover, the lessons that should be learned from this event should be taken into account, and the possibility of its repeat should be eradicated. The ongoing BLM movement reflects that the numerous similar events from the beginning of the 20th century did not change the global situation.
The research is based on utilizing three up-to-date secondary sources. Secondary sources take into account the controversy of the official documentation and use many additional unofficial information. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: Crafting a Legacy by Messer (2021) elaborates on the legacy of the event and its repercussions and offers a profound analysis of the issue, which strengthened my focus of the research. The Tulsa Race Riot by Harris & Carser (2019) critically analyses the event itself, its underlying causes, and the official response. It offers a multilayered analysis of the event and sociopolitical climate surrounding the region. The narrative bias, a key component of the event and its aftermath, was researched in the Tulsa, 1921: Reporting a massacre by Krehbiel (2019). This source offered profound research on the issue of bias in coverage of the massacre.
Systematic anti-black racism persisted unchecked in early 20th-century America. The customary mob incursions into black areas known as “race riots” got worse (Harris & Carser, 2019). In the face of rising black self-confidence, equally horrifying lynchings—acts of domestic terrorism intended to establish white supremacy—took center stage (Messer, 2021). In addition to punishing specific individuals, these heinous crimes employed awful lynching violence against others to convey a message about the social order of the time.
The local newspaper published a story about an alleged attempted rape of a Greenwood resident on May 31, 1921. This report painted an outrageous picture of an evil man trying to rape a good-hearted white girl in a downtown Tulsa public building during the day (Krehbiel, 2019). The defendant was detained in custody by the authorities as a rising white mob threatened to lynch him. African Americans hastened to the defense and marched twice to the courts, some carrying weapons. Following a night of gunfire, tens of thousands of white, armed men—some of whom were assisted by local law enforcement—invaded and completely destroyed the Greenwood neighborhood using a scorched-earth strategy that left little unharmed (Messer, 2021). The violence was stopped by the National Guard. Martial law’s declaration, the imprisonment of black Tulsans, and certain mystery burial practices that may have involved mass graves were among them (Messer, 2021). Moreover, there were millions of dollars in property damage, hundreds of fatalities, and countless numbers of injuries.
The loss of trust between black and white communities and the failure to transmit acquired wealth are the two primary victims of the massacre that contribute to these differences and have an impact on day-to-day living. Local law enforcement has mostly replaced the white mafia that wiped out the Greenwood neighborhood in 1921 (Messer, 2021). Following the killing, local white leaders made several pledges to reconstruct the Greenwood neighborhood, but these promises were mostly broken. Therefore, trust is a major problem lasting for decades.
For a very long time, and even in Tulsa, it was not common practice to recall this chapter in American history. It was only at the beginning of the past decade that it was first mentioned in history textbooks. The Tulsa Massacre Commission of Inquiry was established by the state legislature only in 1996, marking the beginning of the story’s public relations efforts (Messer, 2021). The final report was the outcome of the Commission’s five years of work and was published in 2001 (Krehbiel, 2019). Another outcome of the Commission’s actions is that numerous sources report a victim count that is entirely at odds with the official figure. Only 39 deaths could be formally confirmed by the state commission, of whom 26 were African Americans, and 13 were white (Harris, D & Carser, 2019). More than 800 people were hurt, and more than 10,000 African Americans were left homeless as a result (Krehbiel, 2019). Attempts were made to locate the graves of those killed in this atrocity using contemporary technology, however, all of these efforts were unsuccessful. The first of these locations was only discovered in October 2020, according to a message published in The New York Times (Messer, 2021). The knowledge and the research of the event were severely hardened by the prevailing narrative bias and other obstacles from the official institutions. Even the massacre itself was fuelled by the racist narrative from the local tabloid, which attempted to strike the eye with the article content. The perspective of the African American community was completely silenced, and it is still very rare to see the other side of the narrative.
The connection between the past and present is evident in this case. Researching historical context is vital in such multifaceted issues as race and ethnicity. Racial and ethnic variety is prevalent at all levels—community, state, national, and international. The way we treat each other as individuals defines us as a community. In 1921, Tulsa failed in this endeavor in an unimaginably traumatizing fashion, with long-lasting repercussions that affected generations. Economic and educational prospects have increased for some people in the decades since then, but far too few. The persistent gaps in nearly every sphere—including social, economic, political, educational, and medical—are unmistakable evidence that the generational trauma that caused and has continued to maintain the fundamental cracks in the community calls for much more effort in each of parts to mend.
Despite the fact that the widespread racist slaughter that forever changed US history occurred more than 100 years ago, hundreds of African Americans still lose their lives to police shootings every year. As a result, the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis in May of last year has come to represent racism in the nation. It became evident that there were still serious barriers to African American rights in the United States when millions of Americans protested the killing of African American Floyd on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa massacre. Exploring the roots of the issue and attempting to question the established narrative is a key to the development on both individual and societal levels. More historically informed individuals will attempt not to repeat past mistakes and create a community where everyone will be a crucial part of it.
References
Harris, D., & Carser, A. R. (2019). The Tulsa Race Riot. ABDO.
Krehbiel, R. (2019). Tulsa, 1921: Reporting a massacre. University of Oklahoma Press.
Messer, C. M. (2021). The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: Crafting a Legacy. Springer Nature.