The worst incident of racial violence in the US began on 31 May 1921 when thousands of white residents (many deputized and armed by city officials) attacked black residents of Tulsa, OK.
When 19-year-old Dick Rowland was arrested for allegedly a 17-year-old white elevator operator, a rumor spread that he was going to be lynched. Around 10 pm on 31 May, a group of around 75 black men, some of whom were armed, arrived at the jail to ensure that Rowland would be protected. An armed group of around 200 white men surrounded the jail, and when a white man attempted to disarm one of the armed black group, a gun went off, and shootings immediately began. When it was over, 10 white had been killed and 2 black.
A white mob quickly formed and attacked the Greenwood District in Tulsa, which had become known as “Black Wall Street” due to its thriving black-owned businesses.
Shortly after midnight, white rioters began setting fire to businesses and homes in Greenwood. When firefighters arrived, they were stopped at gunpoint. Within a few hours, more than 25 businesses were in flames.
In the morning, at least “a dozen or more” planes (many occupied by law enforcement) circled the neighborhood and dropped “burning turpentine balls” on hotels, banks, and other businesses, while also shooting fleeing blacks as they ran down the street. Police officials said that the planes had been used to “provide reconnaissance and protect against a Negro uprising.”
Martial law was declared around noon on 1 June, and the National Guard put an end to most of the violence. More than 6,000 black residents were detained by police (under martial law, residents were required to carry identification cards, which almost no one had).
While the violence received national attention at the time, most coverage had inaccurate, and even contradictory information. The Tulsa Tribune initially reported than 9 white people and 68 black people had died in the riot, but shortly afterwards it changed this number to a total of 176 dead. The next day, changed the count to 9 white people and 21 black people.
A 2001 Commission investigating the Tulsa riots was unable to accurately determine the number of deaths, but estimated between 75-100, while the Red Cross estimates ranged 55-300. More than 800 were seriously injured.
Property losses included 191 businesses, a junior high school, several churches, and the only hospital in Greenwood. The Red Cross reported that 1,256 houses were burned and another 215 were looted.
About 10,000 Black people were left homeless, and property damage amounted to more than $1.5 million in real estate and $750,000 in personal property (equivalent to $32.65 million in today’s value).
There were no convictions related to any of the violence, and the incident was quickly ignored by history. The riot was largely omitted from local, state and national histories, and a few attempts to publish photographs and eye-witness accounts of the riot were rejected by major media outlets.
It was not until 1996, when the “Tulsa Race Massacre Commission“ was formed to formally investigate the events that the incident returned to national attention.
While the Commission’s official report recommended “substantial restitution” to direct survivors of the riot, as well as their descendants, that recommendation was ignored. Instead, in March 2001, each of the 118 known survivors of the riot still alive at the time, the youngest of whom was 85, was given a gold-plated medal bearing the state seal.
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