"The Tulsa Massacre 100 Yrs Later: We Remember as to Never Forget"

Our Common Ground with Janice Graham

The Tulsa Massacre So that we never forget. Memorial Day marks the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence and domestic terrorism in U.S. history. When the thriving African American neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma — known as "Black Wall Street" — was burned and bombed to the ground by a white mob. An estimated 300 Black Americans, descendants of slavery were killed and over 1,000 injured. Whites in Tulsa actively suppressed the truth, and Blacks were intimidated by more violence into silence. But efforts to restore the horrific event to its rightful place in U.S. history are beginning this 100 years later. Black children of my generation were taught to know and never forget. Tulsa was not the only sight of violent pogroms attacking Blacks in that era. Tonight, we teach the story of Tulsa. June 5, 2021, we begin our series "Reparations: The Debt That Is Owed" with guest, Dr. William J. "Sandy" Darity.