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What happened in Tulsa was a Massacre in 1921
AS MANY AS 300 PEOPLE ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE DIED THAT DAY BUT THE EXACT NUMBER REMAINS UNCLEAR. NOT ONE PERSON WAS EVER CHARGED WITH THE CRIME. SCOTT ELLSWORTH CHRONICLES THE STORY OF THE MASSACRE IN HIS LATEST BOOK, THE GROUND-BASED BRAKING, AND AMERICAN CITY, AND ITS SEARCH FOR JUSTICE. HE ALSO DETAILS HOW THE MASSACRE WAS PURPOSELY COVERED UP FOR DECADES. PROFESSOR ELLSWORTH JOINS US NOW HE’S A LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’S DEPARTMENT OF AFRO-AMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES.
PROFESSOR, THANK YOU SO MUCH FO JOINING US.
LET’S STEP BACK 100 YEARS, IF YOU WILL, GIVE US A GLIMPSE INTO LIFE IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA, FOR A BLACK PERSON IN 1921. YOU RECENTLY SAID THIS WAS A PLACE WHERE AFRICAN-AMERICANS LEAVING THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA, ARKANSAS AND TENNESSEE, CAME TO GET THE BOOT OF WHITE SUPREMACY OFF THEIR THROATS, SO CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THAT? >> SURE, GREENWOOD, AS THE DISTRICT WAS CALLED, WAS JUST AN ASTONISHING PLACE, IT WAS A HOME TO ABOUT 10,000 AFRICAN- AMERICANS, WITH MORE PEOPLE ARRIVING EVERY DAY IN GREENWOOD, THERE WERE TWO NEWSPAPERS, THERE WERE TWO MOVIE THEATERS, ONE SAT 1000 PEOPLE, THE OTHER, 750.
THERE WERE MORE THAN 30 Restaurants, SERVING EVERYTHING FROM YOU KNOW, A SANDWICH OR A BOWL OF CHILI, TO YOU KNOW, FOUR COURSE MEALS WITH STEAKS AND CHOPS, AND ALL THE TRIMMINGS, THERE WERE MORE THAN 30 GROCERY STORES AND MEAT MARKETS, A DOZEN CHURCHES, MORE THAN A DOZEN SURGEONS AND PHYSICIANS, AFRICAN-AMERICAN SURGEONS AND PHYSICIANS HAVE THEIR OFFICES IN GREENWOOD, THERE WERE BLACK ATTORNEYS, REAL ESTATE AGENTS, DENTISTS, THERE WAS A HOSPITAL, PUBLIC LIBRARY BRANCH, A Post office, THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLY VIBRANT COMMUNITY, AND IT WAS A COMMUNITY FOR YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHERE THE AMERICAN DREAM WAS REALLY WORKING FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
>> AND SO, SCOTT, YOUR 1982 BOOK, DEATH IN A PROMISED LAND HELPED BRING THIS TRAGEDY TO LIFE. HOW AND WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALIZE THAT SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENED IN 1921. AND WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG FOR THIS TO COME TO LIGHT, WERE THERE PEOPLEWHO TRIED TO STOP YOU FROM PUBLISHING WHAT YOU HAD DISCOVERED? >> WELL, I LEARNED ABOUT THIS AS A KID, I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN TULSA, AND EVEN AS A 10 AND 11 -YEAR-OLD, I WOULD Listen STORIES OF OLDER ADULTS, THEY WOULD TALK ABOUT WHAT WE CALLED THE RACE RIDE, BUT WHENEVER YOU WENT INTO THE ROOM, YOU COULDN’T LEARN MUCH ABOUT IT, IT WASN’T UNTIL REALLY I WAS A COLLEGE STUDENT IN THE 1970 S, THAT I STARTED TO DO WORK ON IT. I PERSONALLY WAS NEVER Genuinely Threatened BUT BOY, THAT WASN’T THE CASE FOR PEOPLE BEFORE ME, IN THE 1940 S, AS LATE AS THE 1970 S, THEY WERE RESEARCHERS WHOSE LIVES WERE THREATENED, WHOSE CAREERS WERE THREATENED, FOR WANTING TO LOOK INTO THIS.
AND, THE REASON QUITE FRANKLY, IS THAT, FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY, IN THE WHITE COMMUNITY, THE STORY OF THE MASSACRE WAS ACTIVELY COVERED UP, OFFICIAL RECORDS WERE STOLEN AND DESTROYED.
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By Tam Lawrence
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AS MANY AS 300 PEOPLE ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE DIED THAT DAY BUT THE EXACT NUMBER REMAINS UNCLEAR. NOT ONE PERSON WAS EVER CHARGED WITH THE CRIME. SCOTT ELLSWORTH CHRONICLES THE STORY OF THE MASSACRE IN HIS LATEST BOOK, THE GROUND-BASED BRAKING, AND AMERICAN CITY, AND ITS SEARCH FOR JUSTICE. HE ALSO DETAILS HOW THE MASSACRE WAS PURPOSELY COVERED UP FOR DECADES. PROFESSOR ELLSWORTH JOINS US NOW HE’S A LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN’S DEPARTMENT OF AFRO-AMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES.
PROFESSOR, THANK YOU SO MUCH FO JOINING US.
LET’S STEP BACK 100 YEARS, IF YOU WILL, GIVE US A GLIMPSE INTO LIFE IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA, FOR A BLACK PERSON IN 1921. YOU RECENTLY SAID THIS WAS A PLACE WHERE AFRICAN-AMERICANS LEAVING THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA, ARKANSAS AND TENNESSEE, CAME TO GET THE BOOT OF WHITE SUPREMACY OFF THEIR THROATS, SO CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THAT? >> SURE, GREENWOOD, AS THE DISTRICT WAS CALLED, WAS JUST AN ASTONISHING PLACE, IT WAS A HOME TO ABOUT 10,000 AFRICAN- AMERICANS, WITH MORE PEOPLE ARRIVING EVERY DAY IN GREENWOOD, THERE WERE TWO NEWSPAPERS, THERE WERE TWO MOVIE THEATERS, ONE SAT 1000 PEOPLE, THE OTHER, 750.
THERE WERE MORE THAN 30 Restaurants, SERVING EVERYTHING FROM YOU KNOW, A SANDWICH OR A BOWL OF CHILI, TO YOU KNOW, FOUR COURSE MEALS WITH STEAKS AND CHOPS, AND ALL THE TRIMMINGS, THERE WERE MORE THAN 30 GROCERY STORES AND MEAT MARKETS, A DOZEN CHURCHES, MORE THAN A DOZEN SURGEONS AND PHYSICIANS, AFRICAN-AMERICAN SURGEONS AND PHYSICIANS HAVE THEIR OFFICES IN GREENWOOD, THERE WERE BLACK ATTORNEYS, REAL ESTATE AGENTS, DENTISTS, THERE WAS A HOSPITAL, PUBLIC LIBRARY BRANCH, A Post office, THIS WAS AN INCREDIBLY VIBRANT COMMUNITY, AND IT WAS A COMMUNITY FOR YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHERE THE AMERICAN DREAM WAS REALLY WORKING FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS.
>> AND SO, SCOTT, YOUR 1982 BOOK, DEATH IN A PROMISED LAND HELPED BRING THIS TRAGEDY TO LIFE. HOW AND WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALIZE THAT SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENED IN 1921. AND WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG FOR THIS TO COME TO LIGHT, WERE THERE PEOPLEWHO TRIED TO STOP YOU FROM PUBLISHING WHAT YOU HAD DISCOVERED? >> WELL, I LEARNED ABOUT THIS AS A KID, I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN TULSA, AND EVEN AS A 10 AND 11 -YEAR-OLD, I WOULD Listen STORIES OF OLDER ADULTS, THEY WOULD TALK ABOUT WHAT WE CALLED THE RACE RIDE, BUT WHENEVER YOU WENT INTO THE ROOM, YOU COULDN’T LEARN MUCH ABOUT IT, IT WASN’T UNTIL REALLY I WAS A COLLEGE STUDENT IN THE 1970 S, THAT I STARTED TO DO WORK ON IT. I PERSONALLY WAS NEVER Genuinely Threatened BUT BOY, THAT WASN’T THE CASE FOR PEOPLE BEFORE ME, IN THE 1940 S, AS LATE AS THE 1970 S, THEY WERE RESEARCHERS WHOSE LIVES WERE THREATENED, WHOSE CAREERS WERE THREATENED, FOR WANTING TO LOOK INTO THIS.
AND, THE REASON QUITE FRANKLY, IS THAT, FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY, IN THE WHITE COMMUNITY, THE STORY OF THE MASSACRE WAS ACTIVELY COVERED UP, OFFICIAL RECORDS WERE STOLEN AND DESTROYED.
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