100 years after the Tulsa massacre: The racist crime America chose to forget

“I still see black men being shot, black bodies thrown in the street. I still see black businesses burning. I still hear the screams”.

Viola Fletcher is 107 years old and still remembers what happened that infamous May 31, 1921, a century ago, when mobs of white men killed 300 African Americans, burned and destroyed their homes and businesses in the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Days before the 100th anniversary of this event that was almost buried in the history of the country, Fletcher and two other survivors – the only survivors – went to the US Congress on May 19 to ask for justice and recognition.

The massacre of Tulsa, as it is already known, is considered the worst racial slaughter against African Americans. Despite this, it has hardly been named in history books and most Americans did not know what happened for decades. None of the affected families was compensated, nor were the aggressors charged or, at least, questioned.

“Nobody cared about us for almost 100 years. We and our history have been forgotten, erased. This Congress must recognize us”, claimed the centennial woman in a hearing in the Judicial Committee of the House of Representatives.

The ‘Black Wall Street’

Greenwood was a prosperous neighborhood of Tulsa. The distribution of land after the end of the civil war (1861-1865) that faced the southern and northern states benefited some Afro-American communities that settled in this place and made it buoyant at the beginning of the 20th century.

African-American entrepreneurs owned restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, photography studios, doctor’s offices, hotels, and even had a newspaper for their community.

An African-American woman and her daughter in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in a photo taken before the shooting. The image is from a special collection at the McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa.

However, in those years there were still segregation laws and Greenwood it was divided from other white Tulsa neighborhoods by the railroad tracks that ran through the city. His economic success, however, was the envy of his white neighbors.

It was in this context that the massacre occurred, which was generated by an unclear fact, but which is part of the characteristics of a racist society, where lynchings of black citizens were common, either because someone was accused of being a thief or because they simply were not he said ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ to a white person.

“The presence of this ‘Wall Street’ in times of rigorous racial segregation upset the white supremacists, who could not allow this example of equality and for that reason they felt that they had to burn it”, Professor Ben Keppel, from the Department of History at the University of Oklahoma, explained to BBC Mundo.

“Also, just after the war, the US economy fell into a deep recession that affected the oil industry. There is a pre-existing racism that is buried and that comes to the surface when there are economic problems”, he adds.

Greenwood seemed like an island, an ideal enclave for African Americans to lead their lives normally and even achieve ‘success’.

But everything was erased that May 31.

The ‘attack’ on Sarah Page

A 19-year-old black shoeshine boy, Dick Rowland, was accused of attacking Sarah Page, a 17-year-old white teenager, sparking outrage.

Rowland worked in a building, but due to racial segregation, he could not use the same bathroom as whites and had only to use the one on the third floor. As he got into the elevator, he ran into Page. A witness heard a scream and then saw Rowland running out of the building. The young man was arrested the next day.

Although it was never specified what caused the woman’s scream, historians explain that Rowland may have bumped into Page and touched her, something that was not allowed. The fact could have caused the fear of the young man, which made him run away.

In this image kept by the University of Tulsa, two armed white men are seen after setting fire to some buildings in the Greenwood neighborhood. (Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa via Globe Live Media)

“Although it is still uncertain to accurately describe what happened on May 30, 1921 at the Drexel Building, the most common explanation is that Rowland stepped on Page’s foot, causing her to scream,” points out the Oklahoma Historical Society.

As historians have already documented, the term ‘attack’ used by the media of Tulsa at the time, white-led and openly racist, it involved a wide range of aggression that incited a mob to go Greenwood. In fact, the “Tulsa Tribune” published that day the editorial titled: “To lynch black tonight.”

Fearing Rowland would be lynched, African American World War I veterans and other members of the community came to his defense. Shots were exchanged and the battle broke out.

One day after the massacre, the African American survivors were taken to special camps. In the image, a group of them march with their hands up, escorted by the police. (Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa via Globe Live Media)

Hundreds of angry and armed whites took over the 35 blocks for six hours, set fire to all businesses and entered houses to kill. Airplanes manned by white men even appeared, dropping firebombs on Greenwood, and all with the complacency and came from the authorities.

Although only 35 deaths were recorded at the time, it is estimated that more than 300 African Americans died, although it could have been many more since many of the bodies were burned or thrown into the river.

The slaughter lasted 24 hours. Only on June 1 did the National Guard arrive at Tulsa, which ordered that some 6,000 black survivors were transferred to three refugee camps. Their stories, however, were erased from history with the passing of the decades.

No offsets

“After the massacre, both the blacks and the whites hid what happened under the rug, they had to get ahead. Talking about it was reliving it and it was too painful”, tells the BBC Michelle Brown, coordinator of the cultural center of Greenwood.

All that began to change in the late 1990s, when the Oklahoma Legislature decided to investigate the events and some survivors and their descendants decided to tell their story. However, they are still waiting for reparations or, at least, claims.

In this image you can see how the Mount Zion Baptist Church is engulfed in flames after looting by mobs of white men. (Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa via Globe Live Media)

Who is going to be held accountable? Are you going to make repairs? Will there be any official admission of responsibility?” asks with indignation and sadness Anneliese M. Bruner, great-granddaughter of Florence Mary Parrish, a survivor of the massacre who documented everything in the book “The events of the disaster of Tulsa”.

Tulsa, where 400 thousand people live, is still divided between the black neighborhoods in the north, where 14% of the population lives, and the white neighborhoods in the south.

African American families from Greenwood were stripped of everything. It is estimated that they lost about $ 2 million at the time (about $ 35 million today).

Many of those who survived were even held responsible for what happened for which they were never compensated. Some decided to leave and others went back to rebuild their houses. But the thriving economy of Greenwood never recovered.