How to heal our history
in the immediate wake of the 1921
tulsa race massacre two friends
exchanged letters
a fellow named curtis in detroit wrote
to his dear friend in tulsa
oliver oliver replied
dear oliver i am
by our local newspaper fully advised of
the whole
terrible tragedy there now that they
have destroyed your homes
wrecked your schools reduced your
business places to ashes
and killed your people i’m sure that you
would rapidly
give up the town and move north
and closed please find a draft for forty
dollars to purchase your ticket to
detroit
we’ll be expecting you curtis
dear curtis how kind of you to volunteer
your
sympathetic assistance it is just like
you to be helpful to others in times of
stress like this
true it is we are facing a terrible
situation
it is equally true that they have
destroyed our homes they have
wrecked our schools and they have
reduced our churches to
ashes and they have murdered our people
curtis but they have not touched
our spirit and while i’ll speak
only for myself let it be said
that i came here and built my fortune
with that spirit
i shall reconstruct it here with that
spirit
and i expect to live on and die here
with it
oliver how do we bind the wounds of our
historical racial trauma how do we
heal our history our often hidden
history
excluded from dialogue discussion and
debate
excluded from curricular materials
now i’ve studied written about and
lectured on
tulsa’s historic greenwood district for
well over two decades now
and i’ve come to believe that there’s a
three-part process
that will lead our community and
communities all across the land
that have experienced historical racial
trauma farther along the road to
reconciliation
that process involves acknowledgement
apology and atonement
acknowledgement that first prong it
really means
confronting our history
now if we look at the black community in
tulsa known as the greenwood district
later dub black wall street for its
incredible economic
and entrepreneurial prowess we can see
that it began in 1906
a fellow named o.w gurley a wealthy
businessman from arkansas
migrated to oklahoma in the land run in
he wound up in tulsa bought land
used some of the land for his own
businesses which included a grocery
store
and a hotel sold other parcels of that
land
in the greenwood district to other
african americans
after gurley established a grocery store
in 1906 businesses proliferated
in the greenwood district there were
beauty salons and barber shops
pool halls dance halls rooming houses
garages confectionaries
there were all manner of businesses
including pharmacies
clothiers haberdasheries and on
and on and on this was essentially a
black main street
these were small business enterprises
and service providers like doctors
lawyers dentists accountants
to give you an example of the
sophistication of the business people in
the greenwood community
let me tell you about two individuals
one is simon berry
simon berry owned and operated a jitney
service a jet is like a taxicab
so he had a model t ford and for a
nickel a ride
he would shuttle people anywhere around
in the greenwood district that they
wanted to go and he made a lot of money
doing that
he saw the need for a greater
transportation service so he started a
bus
line so successful it was that was
bought from him
by the city of tulsa simon barry was
also a pilot
so he started a charter plane service
among his clients were some of the
wealthy oil barons
in and around tulsa tulsa at this time
of course
was on an upward trajectory toward
becoming the self-described oil
capital of the world simon berry also
owned the royal hotel
one of several boutique hotels in
tulsa’s greenwood community
dr a.c jackson was a prominent black
surgeon
in the early part of the 20th century
right here in tulsa
the mayo brothers as in the mayo clinic
called him
the most able negro surgeon in america
and even in rigidly segregated tulsa
oklahoma
he had patients who were white and
patients who were black truly
remarkable we have this incredible
economic and entrepreneurial activity
going on in tulsa’s greenwood district
in the early part of the 20th century
we come to the period of the 1921 tulsa
race
massacre now there are a number of
systemic
institutional and structural issues that
that really
undergirded the massacre but i want to
tell you about the trigger incident
tulsa in 1921 was a tinderbox
a powder keg needing only some sort of
catalyst
to be thrown on these smoldering embers
that would cause the great conflagration
that was a 1921
tulsa race massacre
that trigger incident involved two
teenagers
a 19 year old black boy dick roland who
shined shoes for a living
a 17 year old white girl sarah page who
operated an elevator
in a downtown building called the drexel
building it was monday
may 30th 1921. dick roland
busy shining shoes downtown needed to
use the restroom
facilities were limited because of
segregation
but dick rowland knew of a restroom
facility
on the third floor of the downtown
drexel building
he walked over to the drexel building
entered boarded the elevator being
operated by young sarah page
something happened on that elevator we
don’t know exactly what it was
but it caused the elevator to jerk or to
lurch
dick rowland bumped into sarah page and
sarah page
began to scream the elevator landed back
in the lobby dick rowland
frightened ran from the elevator sarah
page
exited the elevator into the arms of a
clerk from a locally owned store called
renbergs
he comforted her she told him
her story about being assaulted in the
elevator
he was concerned and he called the
police now sarah page would ultimately
recant the original story
she would acknowledge to authorities
that nothing untoward happened on that
elevator
she would refuse to cooperate with
prosecutors after dick rowland was
arrested
for assault dick rowland
was taken to jail which sat atop the
courthouse
the sheriff was sheriff mccullough a
large
white mob began to gather on the lawn of
the courthouse
in part because of the reportage of a
local newspaper called the tulsa tribune
now the day after the elevator incident
the tribune this afternoon daily
newspaper published a story
entitled nab negro for attacking girl
in an elevator it was a false
narrative it was a scandalous scurrilous
tale of an attempted rape in broad
daylight
in a public building in downtown tulsa
the tribune article went out of its way
to make sarah page
who was of questionable repute virtuous
and as a corollary it made dick rowland
look villainous
and thus the large white mob that
gathered on the
lawn of the courthouse threatening to
lynch dick rowland now black men got
wind of these rumors of a lynching they
were concerned
several dozen black men some of them
world war one veterans
some of them with weapons who knew how
to use those weapons marched down to the
courthouse to protect dick rowland
they were confronted by the much larger
white mob which numbered ultimately in
the thousands
there were words exchanged between the
two groups
a white man tried to take the gun held
by a black man and the gun discharged
and in the words of one of the massacre
survivors all hell broke loose after
that
the violence of the massacre lasted
roughly 16 hours
quelled by a unit of the national guard
sent in from oklahoma city
when the dust settled some 100 to 300
people
were killed most of them black
among those who died was dr ac
jackson that prominent black surgeon i
mentioned earlier he was accosted at his
home on detroit avenue
he exited his house hands held high
in surrender but was gunned down by a
young white man
dr jackson bled to death
in addition to the fatalities hundreds
of folks
were injured at least 1 250 homes in the
black community
were destroyed a number of businesses
churches schools and a library were
destroyed
as well property damage
conservatively estimated ranged from 1.5
to 2 million
in 1921. that translates into well over
25 million dollars
today and again that’s a low ball
estimate
some black tulsans were interned in
these detention centers throughout the
city very much like people of japanese
ancestry
were interned during world war ii and
they had to have a green card
an identification card counter-signed by
a white person
to get them released from these
detention centers
many black families spent days weeks
and months living in tent cities set up
by the american red cross which by all
accounts
did a yeoman’s job in terms of providing
health care food
shelter and clothing post massacre
this narrative really though centers on
the human spirit
because what’s remarkable here is that
the black community vowed
that they would not be moved most black
tolsons
remained in place they borrowed money
and they did what they had to do to
survive
and ultimately to thrive they began
rebuilding
even as the embers still smoldered
from the massacre the black community in
tulsa economically
black wall street reaches its peak in
the early to mid 1940s with well
over 200 black owned and operated
businesses in the community
the economic fortunes of the black
community turned south
in the 60s 70s and 80s on account of
integration urban renewal and a host of
social economic and political
factors and today the community is
integrated
it’s growing it’s an amalgam of
different kinds of interests residential
commercial educational cultural
religious
and on and on it’s a community in search
of unity
and in search of a new identity a new
iteration
of black wall street i have the
privilege of serving as the education
chair
for the 1921 tulsa race massacre
centennial commission
and we’re working on that three-prong
process that i mentioned
earlier acknowledgement apology
and atonement we’re working to share
this history with the world through
documentaries through public service
announcements
we run a summer teachers institute that
teaches teachers
not only the substantive history but
pedagogy how to teach the history to
various audiences
we’re building a pathway to hope that
connects important sites in the
greenwood district
and elevates the founders of the
community the originals
of black wall street we’re building
greenwood rising
a world-class multi-million dollar
history center
that will tell this story in an
immersive experiential way
and will allow our patrons to leverage
this history
to grapple with some of the challenges
that we face around race today
black lives matter mass incarceration
educational deficits health care
disparities
and on and on and on and finally we are
working
to rekindle the black wall street
mindset that can do spirit
around economics and entrepreneurship
i want to give you a more concrete
example of that three-prong process i
mentioned earlier
acknowledgment apology and atonement the
tulsa chamber of commerce was around in
1921 it was a big player in the
community
at that time the current chamber
leadership
aware of the tendency of the 100th
anniversary of the massacre decided to
look back
to see what the chamber’s role was in
the leadership was stunned at the
various acts of omission
and commission on the part of the
chamber that really impeded progress
in the black community in the run up to
and post
massacre the ceo of the chamber mike
neal decided to host a press conference
he held at the greenwood cultural center
the leading history repository in the
community today at this press conference
he acknowledged the chamber’s
dereliction of duty back in 1921.
he donated to the greenwood cultural
center relevant portions of the 1921
chamber
minutes to preserve them for posterity
he apologized he expressed sorrow for
the actions
of the chamber back in 1921 and he moved
a step further
to atonement he talked about what the
current chamber is doing in the area of
diversity
equity and inclusion both internally as
an organization
and externally as a convener of business
interests throughout the community
he talked about initiatives and
opportunities specifically
for african-american economic progress
in tulsa
acknowledgement apology and atonement
now i know that you’re wondering what
can you do you’re just one person
but there are a number of options first
and foremost
self-awareness introspection
learn about yourself your background
your culture explore your biases
explicit and implicit there are a number
of tools available
for your use online and in your
community
join with organizations in your
community and there are many that that
center their mission on fighting bias
bigotry and racism
work with your school board member on a
more inclusive
curriculum a people’s history of the
united states
whereby the rich mosaic that really is
america
is represented and reflected in our
history books
work with your elected officials local
state federal
on some of the disparities that we know
exist across lines of race
ethnicity and culture disparities in
education
criminal justice health care employment
housing and on and on
and on and finally you can do something
as
simple as dinner and dialogue
this is an idea promoted by oklahoma
senator james lankford
invite somebody from a different racial
ethnic or cultural group
to your home your intimate space for
dinner
have dinner but also have a conversation
about something that is important to the
community something meaningful
but it’s not about the substance or or
the
the the topic of the conversation it’s
really about
the conversation itself it’s about
building
relationships because relationships are
essential to trust
and without trust there is no
reconciliation
so how do we bind the wounds of our
historical racial trauma how do we heal
our history
are often hidden history excluded from
dialogue discussion and debate excluded
from curricular materials
well we do that by tearing down the
walls that have too long divided us
walls built around ignorance and hate
and fear
and blame and shame we do it
by building the bridges that connect us
across our shared humanity thank you
you