There seems to be no end to the need for acknowledging the violence done to African Americans in this country. Two months ago, I wrote about the shameful Easter 1873 massacre in Louisiana. This weekend is the 100th anniversary of the tragic massacre of Blacks in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Basic Facts of the Tulsa Massacre
It all
started on a Monday morning, May 30. Sarah, a 17-year-old White elevator
operator charged that Dick, a 19-year-old Black man grabbed her arm as he
entered the elevator. It is not known what actually happened, but the next day Dick
was arrested for attacking Sarah.
By
mid-afternoon on May 31, threats of lynching Dick surfaced, and Blacks begin to
gather to protect him—but they were far outnumbered by the Whites. About 10
p.m., a White man attempted to disarm a Black man. The gun fired in the ruckus,
and the massacre began.
Beginning
around 5 a.m. on June 1, Black homes and businesses were looted and set ablaze.
At 7:30, Mount Zion Baptist Church was set afire.
Most of the
killing and the destruction of property was over by noon, but by then Tulsa’s prosperous Black neighborhood of Greenwood, known as the “Black
Wall Street,” was completely destroyed.
According to
the large, impressive book The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: A Photographic
History, “Perhaps as many as three hundred Tulsans” were killed.
Moreover, “Upward of ten thousand Black Tulsans were without homes or businesses, their lifetime possessions either consumed by fire or carried away by whites” (p. 271).**
Why Remember the Tulsa Massacre?
One of William Faulkner’s most memorable lines
comes from his 1951 novel Requiem of a Nun: “The past is never dead.
It's not even past.”
Faulkner’s words were paraphrased in "A
More Perfect Union," a speech delivered by then Senator Barack Obama in
March 2008. He argued that many of the difficulties in African American
communities could be traced to the sufferings of previous generations under
slavery and Jim Crow laws.
Or, he might have said, traced back to events
such as the 1906 lynchings in Springfield, Mo., and the massacre in Tulsa 15
years later.
For decades and decades, evil racist acts of
the past were overlooked, disregarded, consigned to the dustbin of history—or so
it was hoped.
Just 35 years after the tragic Tulsa massacre
of 1921, I took an American history course in Bolivar, Mo., just over 200 miles
from Tulsa. I’m quite sure no mention was made of the Tulsa massacre.
According to the online Britannica, “Despite
its severity and destructiveness, the Tulsa race massacre was barely mentioned
in history books until the late 1990s, when a state commission was formed to
document the incident.”
Nor was there any mention of the lynchings of
African Americans fifteen years earlier in Springfield, Mo., even though that city
was only about 30 miles away. My small Baptist college had no Black students,
and there was little, if any, interest in Black history in the classroom or on
campus.
But the past is never dead—and in 2019 the
city of Springfield finally, after 113 years, erected
a historical marker in the city. And now, 100 years after the massacre in
Tulsa, the country is finally paying some attention to the tragic events there.
The past, thankfully, is no longer forgotten or concealed.
There is hope for the days ahead if the nation
learns from the living past in order to create a livable future with liberty
and justice for all.
_____
**
The book of photographic history was written by Karlos K. Hill and published in
March of this year. Another important book on this subject is Randy Krehbiel’s Tulsa
1921: Reporting a Massacre (2019). (Both of these books were available in
my local public library.)
Thanks, Leroy. This event has been getting some share of remembrance lately, and it's good you've mentioned in this blog. I will post the blog on FB.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much hope there is for the future of the nation, as the well of resentment, fear, classism, and racism among whites in this country runs so deep. As a patriot, I live on the edge of despair.
Thanks for your comments, Anton--and for sharing the info. about the blog on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to give up on hope, but there are sure a lot of reasons to be "on the edge of despair" right now.
I had to delete the second paragraph of my blog post this morning. It was about the special event planned for Monday, but it was cancelled yesterday. Just before posting, I happened to see the following disappointing announcement:
"Tulsa 'Remember and Rise' event canceled days before centennial of race massacre after dispute over payment to survivors.
"The event to mark the 100th anniversary of the destruction of Black Wall Street was to feature singer John Legend and influential Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams."
Perhaps I never heard of the Tulsa massacre before reading Serene Jones's book "Call It Grace: Finding Meaning in a Fractured World" soon after it was published in 2019. As you may know, she is now president of Union Theological Seminary but was born and reared in Oklahoma. She writes about the Tulsa massacre on pages 51~53.
ReplyDeleteHere are brief comments from Thinking Friend Glenn Hinson in Kentucky, "Thanks for this important blog, Leroy. Surely the nation is finally awakening to its own dark history."
ReplyDeleteHere are substantial comments from Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for bringing up the story of the horrific Tulsa riot. I was not aware of it until a couple of years ago.
"I have made a timeline of racial injustice in America from 1619 up to the present. Much of the material has been taken from 'A History of Racial Injustice, 2020 Calendar,' which was published by the Equal Justice Initiative. Since it is copyrighted material, and since I have not requested permission to use it, I am reluctant to share the timeline.
"Nonetheless, the timeline lists the lynching, you cited, by a white mob on the town square in Springfield, Missouri, on April 14, 1906, of two black men, Fred Coker and Horace Duncan. The men were shot and hanged before thousands of spectators.
"The timeline also lists an incident on August 14, 1908, in another Springfield, Springfield, Illinois, where a white mob of 5,000, after a failed lynching attempt, stormed a black neighborhood, burned houses and businesses, and killed a number of people.
"There are many other incidents listed involving not just black people, but Native Americans and Asian Americans, especially the Chinese. The timeline is not comprehensive as there have been too many incidents.
"It angers me when I hear white people, and even a few conservative black people, say that black people need to work hard and pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. But they did just that in Tulsa and elsewhere only to see white mobs destroy what they had built.
"Perhaps someday the words of Amos will come to pass, 'Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.'"
Thinking Friend Virginia Belk in New Mexico writes,
ReplyDelete"There is a video taped interview with several elder victims who were small children when the Tulsa Massacre occurred on the National Museum of African American History, (a part of the Smithsonian Institute museum system) website."
Thanks, Virginia, for sharing this, but I have been unable (up to this point) to find the interview you mentioned, but here (below) is the link to a short CBS news story (video) that includes the testimony of a remarkable 107-year-old survivor of the massacre.
Deletehttps://www.cbsnews.com/video/tulsa-race-massacre-survivor-testifies-congress/
This morning I was delighted to have email contact with Joy Harman Newheart, who was "born and reared in Oklahoma," as I said in a comment above about Serene Jones--and Joy told me that she and Serene were friends when students at Oklahoma University.
ReplyDeleteHere is just a small part of what Joy shared with me and gave me permission to share with you readers of this blog:
"I learned nothing of the Tulsa massacre when I was growing up. Probably not too surprising for a white girl from a middle class family. But here’s the deal: My father was the dean of Bacone College, a liberal arts junior college founded for the education of American Indians. As a child, civil rights was my bread and butter. Yet nothing was said of Tulsa or of the murders of Osage people just northwest of Tulsa.
"I don’t know how long [Thinking Friend] Michael [Willett Newheart] had been [a professor] at Howard [University Divinity School] before I learned of the Tulsa massacre. I didn’t feel surprise that whites, namely KKK, had perpetrated on these wealthy African Americans. I was appalled by the crime and astonished that no one from Bacone, namely my own parents, never mentioned it.
"I am still in touch with a few friends from those days growing up at Bacone. We, 'faculty kids,' express the same astonishment of not knowing about this terrible episode. Bacone is associated with the American Baptist Churches, so we all were raised like pastor’s kids in a way. And today many of us are in ministry or education, working toward a 'level playing field' for people of minority ethnicities. We are outraged and incredulous at the secrecy about this crime."
Here's a link to my review of a book about the massacre. The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, by Tim Madigan
ReplyDeleteI looked over this List of Events Named Massacres in Wikipedia and noticed that the 1873 Colfax Massacre is not included in the list. Somebody want to make an addition to Wikipedia? The Tulsa Race massacre is listed.
DeleteI appreciate Eric Dollard's inclusion in his listing of tragedies those that happened to people groups other than blacks. These people may represent by far the largest group who were enslaved in our country, but others we simply killed with warfare, disease, or unsafe working conditions. Project 1619 would have us believe American history began with the arrival of the first black slave. The hundred years plus before that saw Native Americans enslaved for the purpose of European expansion in the Spanish southwest as well as in the Caribbean and South America. Their stories need to be included along with the horrors committed against our black citizenry.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tom, for bringing up the issue of the rampant mistreatment / exploitation of Native Americans. I perhaps will be writing a blog article before long about the 1619 project, and it is helpful for me to be aware of what that project says and perhaps doesn't say about the Native Americans.
DeleteJim Wallis of Sojourners is one who has perhaps talked and written most about America's "original sin." But in his recent writings about that, he has included Native Americans as well as enslaved Africans brought to this country, and I think it is quite important to recognize the dual nature of our nation’s “original sin.”
My Sunday School class is reading "White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America," by Nancy Isenberg (2016). We have made it from Jamestown to the 1850s, when "poor white trash" became a common title for people who in earlier years had been waste, crackers, and even clay-eaters. For centuries, the rich have practiced divide and conquer, setting poor whites against poor (and slave) blacks. The Tulsa massacre is a prime example of the devastation that that dividing strategy can create. The rich and powerful drive everyone insane.
ReplyDeleteIn today's discussion we jumped ahead a few decades to consider the scandal of Mark Twain's Huck Finn, and his integrated trip down the Mississippi River with run-away slave Jim. They both wanted out, and were smart enough to team up to work on it. Those of us who grew up wearing Davy Crockett coonskin caps while we watched the TV show, realize what happened to all the poor white trash who ran away to the cities; in the famous words of the Pogo cartoon, "We have met the enemy, and he are us!" Except, we did not successfully run away; all around us we can still hear the groans of a world in chains. The difference is that so many white people have no idea what is wrong, while so many black people suffer and die so painfully aware. So we begin by remembering the names from Black Wall Street to George Floyd. So much remains to do.
Thanks for sharing this, Craig. And yes, as you say at the end of our comments, much remains to be done!
DeleteThis morning I received a lengthy and very significant email from Thinking Friend Tom Nowlin in Arkansas. Here is less than half of what he wrote:
ReplyDelete"Thank you for reminding us of the Tulsa Massacre. Not to take anything away from this horrendous event, two years prior to this massacre was the Elaine Massacre in Philips County, Arkansas. No one really knows how many African Americans were killed in this massacre, as dead people tell no tales. In this case, law enforcement and troops were called in and allegedly, at least in part, involved in the massacre. I attended the 100 year commemoration of the Elaine Massacre two years ago in Elaine, Arkansas. I have attended several commemorative events in Elaine over the years, but the 100 year commemoration involved the placement of monuments. Within days of the placement of the one in Elaine proper, it was vandalized, even destroyed, and the tree planted cut down. Racism dies hard, or it certainly would appear.
"Official records report that over 200 African Americans were savagely murdered over a two day period in 1919 in Elaine, Arkansas. I will refrain from going into the details. One can easily google the Elaine Massacre and see more details. Having met and visited with family members of the survivors at commemorative occasions, tales recount over a thousand killed, and the conscription of African Americans to carry the dead off for mass grave burial by horse and wagon, and even wheelbarrows. Every year the Elaine Massacre is remembered by the African American community there. At every occasion I have attended less than a dozen Caucasians have ever attended.
"I searched and found that the Elaine Massacre, one of the worst massacres of human beings in US history, took place not more than 20 miles by the crow flies from my first fulltime pastorate. But I had to 'search' for it! To this day, there is still no mention of the massacre in Arkansas public school textbooks! To this day, the Government of Arkansas has not acknowledge its part in the savagery that took place those two days! Not even a whimper of disgust at what even happened. A problem cannot be dealt with if the problem is denied in the first place."
This morning I received permission from TF Tom to post the rest of his email, so here it is:
Delete"Why am I so familiar with the Elaine Massacre? After graduating from Southern Seminary in December 1987 my first pastorate was at a prominent First Baptist Church (that shall be unnamed) in Philips County, just 20 miles from Elaine. In short, despite my deliberate efforts, making it known to the search committee, as tactfully as could be done, that I could not support any way any hint of racism, the church 'called' me with nearly a 100% vote. The only reason why I felt this needed to be mentioned was because the Arkansas Delta is known for its racism, and divided communities. In fact, of the many secondary school teachers and administrators in the congregation, half were in the public school and half in the private school (started in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education decision of SCOTUS). I specifically put the question to the search committee, 'If an African American presents him/herself for membership will it be a problem when I present him/her to the church for church membership?' The unanimous reply was an emphatic 'No.' Only later did I discover this was a 'lie' and would be a problem.
"The early signs of trouble came in two ways. First, I put my two children in the public education system. Immediately, wealthy members in my church came to me and asked if they could pay the tuition for my children to go to the private school. Much was said, which I will spare you, but I declined the offer. To my dismay, later, white youth in the church came to me and thanked me for sending my children to the public school where they attended, cynically referring to themselves as 'white trash' kids. The short story here is that my children did well in the public education system. Both my sons eventually went to the US Naval Academy. Life moves on and the oldest is now a medical doctor in Missouri and the youngest is now farming in Japan. My daughter is a public school teacher.
"Second, during a Here’s Hope revival campaign, I had organized a Bible distribution campaign to every home within a 10 mile radius of the church. Again, keeping things simple, I was summoned by the 14 deacons of the church and asked to give an account of myself for distributing Bibles to the homes of African Americans. Their fear? Receiving a Bible could be interpreted as an invitation to our church? Wow! As if this was not bad enough, two of the deacons then said to me that it was a waste of the church’s and my effort anyway 'because everyone knows N*ggers ain’t got souls.' Controlling my rage at this point I laid out the lunacy of such a statement and how this stood in direct contradiction to the teachings of Scripture and the missionary people Southern Baptist claim/ed to be. To their credit, the majority of the deacons ended up supporting me that night, but it was a slim majority, and I knew I was on thin ice from then on. In fact, I just knew I and my young family would soon be packing. I just knew I had lost my 'job' as the pastor of the church.
[to be continued]
[continued from above]\
Delete\
"This was my all too real introduction to sure enough face-to-face racism and injustice, and it came within the building and amongst the people who espoused the life giving and life changing Christian message of the Gospel. When people today try to tell me racism does not exist, and especially in the church, I know better. It is both hidden, and not so hidden. Push the 'right' ('wrong') buttons and it comes out. This experience shattered any idealism I had about Christianity. It raised many questions for me that I have spent the rest of my life so far trying to answer. There were several central burning questions for me then… How can people who claim to be 'born again' ('changed') disciples of Jesus practice and perpetuate such hate? Just how powerful is this Gospel? This life transformation? Where does such racism and hate come from? These people only discredit the Gospel they claim to believe and soil the name of Jesus."
Thank you so much, Tom, for allowing me to share this powerful "testimony" you have written.
DeleteHere are comments with very helpful information from local Thinking Friend Clif Hostetler (who also posted above):
ReplyDeleteThe following is a list of incidents of racial violence in the USA from 1873 to 1923 with links to the respective Wikipedia articles. Note that both the Elaine and Tulsa incidents are on the list along with the Colfax Massacre that Leroy previously posted about. The Wikipedia article for "Red Summer" lists sixty separate incidents (1919 Elaine and 1919 Chicago were part of Red Summer).
1873 Colfax massacre
1885 Rock Springs massacre
1887 Thibodaux massacre
Spring Valley race riot of 1895
1898 Phoenix election riot
Wilmington massacre of 1898
1899 Pana massacre
1900 Robert Charles riots
1903 Evansville Race Riot
1906 Atlanta race riot
Springfield race riot of 1908
1910 Johnson–Jeffries riots
1912 racial conflict in Forsyth County, Georgia
1917 Chester race riot
1917 East St. Louis Riot
1919 Elaine massacre
1918-1919 Red Summer
Chicago race riot of 1919
1920 Ocoee massacre
1921 Tulsa race massacre
1922 Perry massacre
1923 Rosewood massacre