Why Teaching the Tulsa Race Riot Is More Than Just Teaching History [View all]

[SoCalDem]

http://www.good.is/posts/why-teaching-the-tulsa-race-riot-to-students-is-more-than-just-teaching-history?utm_medium=tdg&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=readon&utm_content=Race%20Riot%20Amnesia%3A%20Why%20the%20History%20You%27ve%20Never%20Heard%20of%20Matters%20Most


Learn in Education, Race and History
May 28, 2013 at 4:00 AM
Linda Christensen

None of my mostly African American 11th graders in Portland had ever heard of the so-called Tulsa Race Riot, even though it stands as one of the most violent episodes of dispossession in U.S. history.

The term "race riot" does not adequately describe the events of May 31-June 1, 1921 in Greenwood, a black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In fact, the term itself implies that both blacks and whites might be equally to blame for the lawlessness and violence. The historical record documents a sustained and murderous assault on black lives and property. This assault on Greenwood was met by a brave but unsuccessful armed defense of their community by some black World War I veterans and others.

During the night and day of the riot, deputized whites killed more than 300 African Americans. They looted and burned to the ground 40 square blocks of 1,265 African American homes, including hospitals, schools, and churches, and destroyed 150 businesses. White deputies and members of the National Guard arrested and detained 6,000 black Tulsans, who were released only upon being vouched for by a white employer or other white citizen. Nine thousand African Americans were left homeless and lived in tents well into the winter of 1921.

snip.. (a very good read)