Day Two —Greenwood, Tulsa & the Black Wall Street of Oklahoma

This February, Rachel Cargle is posting a daily prompt on her Instagram feed, a topic to research and reflect on. “Black history is American history. Do the work to learn and honor it.”

Day Two Prompt
Greenwood, Tulsa & the Black Wall Street of Oklahoma

Brief Reflection
Greenwood was a thriving community of black-owned businesses—the Black Wall Street of Oklahoma. In 1921, a couple years after the Red Summer of 1919—a summer that saw 25 race riots in cities across the US—white men in Tulsa invaded the community of Greenwood with guns, bombs, and fire. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed, hundreds of people were murdered, and thousands of people were left homeless. The Greenwood community never recovered. There is much more to it than this synopsis. The Ringer article linked below is an excellent read. If Hollywood does find a way to tell the story, I’ll be happy to see it gain the recognition it should have had throughout the past century.

Resources

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa
2. https://www.theringer.com/2018/6/28/17511818/black-wall-street-oklahoma-greenwood-destruction-tulsa