HeadToHead Reflecting on the Tulsa Race Massacre
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s a former history teacher, I Recognizing neighborhood of Tulsa and kill an often quote George estimated 300 people. the Santayana’s admonition Centennial It was later determined the event that, “those who cannot remember of the 1921 was fabricated, in other words, “a the past are condemned to repeat Tulsa Race big lie.” Mr. Rowland was later vinit.” But one cannot remember that dicated, but the damage to the Massacre which one does not know.That is Tulsa community and the loss of the case for too many people regarding the life could not be undone. Tulsa Race Massacre. And for good reason. Today, we are experiencing a modern The more interactions I have with folks day “big lie” tearing at in Washington and around the country, the fabric of this counthe more appreciative I am of Ernestine try. Hopefully we Walker, Marybelle Howe, William Howell, have learned lessons Rosa Harris and many other teachers, and from Tulsa that will some of the other students they taught, help maintain the and with whom I studied and debated on greatness of our fragthe campus of that little HBCU— South ile democracy. Carolina State. Greenwood was I was blessed with integral knowledge known at the time as of Tulsa, Rosewood (Florida), Hamburg “Black Wall Street” Con. Jim Clyburn (South Carolina) and many other historic — due to its status as one of the most prosand horrific — events that were “white- perous African American communities in washed” by newspapers and left out of his- the country. The devastation wrought by tory books. I still remember the one-on-one the mob, many of who’d been deputized session I had with Ernestine Walker dis- and armed by local officials, took the lives cussing Tulsa native John Hope Franklin’s and livelihoods of many in the Greenwood outstanding book “From Slavery to community. It caused irreparable damage Freedom” as a blessed experience. And it to hundreds of Black families, who never was a blessing to have had a one-on-one received justice for their losses. with John Hope himself when he chaired Many survivors of the massacre whose the “race committee” for President Bill only proof of their bank accounts were Clinton. burned up with their other possessions, I was also blessed by Tulsa native Alfre never got their money and were never Woodard, who wrote the foreword to my compensated for their losses. memoir, “Blessed Experiences.” This horrific incident was erased from The Tulsa Race Massacre is a prime collective memory when the Tulsa Tribune example of inflaming issues and ignoring destroyed all original copies of the May 31, history. They both significantly lead to the 1921 edition of the newspaper and inability and failure to learn the real les- removed it from any archival copies. sons that true history can teach us. It was Scholars later discovered that police and the inflammatory reporting of the chance state militia archives about the riot were encounter of a young Black man, Dick missing as well. We cannot overcome the Rowland; and a young white elevator oper- issues of race that have troubled our ator, Sarah Page, that ignited one of the nation since its inception by ignoring the deadliest episodes of racial violence in our failings of our past. nation’s history. I often quote Alexis De Tocqueville’s On May 31st, 1921, the Tulsa Tribune notion that America’s greatness lies not in newspaper printed the headline; “Nab being more enlightened than any other Negro for Attacking Girl in Elevator,” and nation, but rather because it has always the same edition included a report of a been able to repair its faults. To repair our white mob’s plan to lynch Rowland. The faults, our country must acknowledge past newspaper account was based on false mistakes and work to ensure we don’t claims that Mr. Rowland sexually assault- repeat them. ed Page, a white woman; and is cited as I believe this anniversary gives us the the spark that incited a mob to burn and opportunity to remember this dark past loot 35 blocks in the Black Greenwood and recommit ourselves to finding ways to Jim Clyburn continued to page 24
Headlines From Africa
Burkina Fasa: Internal conflict between armed groups and security forces have triggered displacements with civilians increasingly becoming the targets of violence amidst an increase in food insecurity. Burundi: Entire villages west of the city of Bujumbura were inundated by water, after days of torrential rains caused water bodies to burst their banks and led to the displacement of families—particularly in poor, low-lying neighborhoods of Bujumbura lacking proper drainage systems — abandoning their homes in search of dry ground. Congo: At press, 40 were still missing and more than 20,000 people left homeless in the wake of a volcanic eruption in eastern Congo that killed dozens and sparked strong earthquakes in the nearby city of Goma. The ash cloud triggered by the eruption shut down airports in Goma and Bukavu and is feared to cause respiratory diseases. Eritrea/Ethiopia: Eritrea's Information Minister, Yemane Gebremeskel is denying reports that Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers were reported to have forcibly detained more than 500 young men and women from camps for displaced people in the northern region of Tigray. Ethiopian officials say Tigrayan rebels have killed 22 officials of the war-hit Tigray region’s interim administration Kenya: Cases of gender-based violence nearly quintupled during the COVID-19 pandemic according to Kenya’s Department of Gender, which note that due to the stigma and fear of recording gender violence, the numbers may actually be a great deal higher. Mali: Mali's interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane resigned two days after being arrested
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s the 100th anniversary of descendants are presently fighting Painful History the Tulsa Race Massacre for reparations and justice. One Lessons from was observed from May 31 part of the documentary that espethe Tulsa Race to June 1, I spent part of cially resonated with me was how Massacre Memorial Day watching the PBS the Vernon A.M.E. Church was, documentary: "Tulsa: The Fire and the and still is, a solid foundation of Tulsa's Forgotten." African American community. Many fled to Many younger adults who are fans of the building's basement while Greenwood the popular HBO horror drama "Lovecraft was being burned. Country" were introduced to this grim hisThe White mob eventually set Vernon tory of the mass A.M.E. on fire, but the basement and the slaughter in Tulsa's Black families in it miraculously survived. Greenwood district They still showed up for service the next while watching the Sunday morning after their town was nothseason one episode ing but rubble. I can only imagine that they "Rewind 1921." had Job-like determination to still worship The fact that young God with a "though you slay me, yet will I people gained knowl- trust you" mentality after losing everyedge about the Tulsa thing. Learning about what they lost is Jessica Johnson killings through pop particularly painful because generational culture reminded me of how I learned wealth was also viciously destroyed. about the 1923 Rosewood massacre in Greenwood was famously dubbed "Black Florida by viewing the film bearing its Wall Street" by W.E.B. DuBois, and businame in 1997. ness was literally booming there. Both the Rosewood and Tulsa Oklahoma Policy Institute records show Greenwood tragedies were instigated by a that Greenwood's business district had two false accusation of a Black man sexually schools named for Paul Laurence Dunbar assaulting a White woman. In the and Booker T. Washington respectively, a Greenwood case, it was a young Black bank, a public library and two newspapers teenager, and the Rosewood claim was a and movie theaters. fabrication. The end was horrifically the Greenwood survivors were maliciously same, with both towns burned as Black denied compensation for the loss of their people were mercilessly slain by White homes and businesses as a grand jury of all mobs. Rosewood and the Greenwood town- White men blamed them for the violence. ship were also prosperous Black settleThe "Fire and the Forgotten" points out ments that thrived economically despite the harsh repercussions of that decision racial oppression and segregation. remain evident today. Many Blacks who I was a young Ohio State graduate stu- live in North Tulsa, –one of the country's dent when I watched "Rosewood," and I most segregated areas–are struggling to had the same question then that many overcome social disparities of poverty, have today learning about the Tulsa car- crime and high unemployment. nage: Why were these events omitted from In reflecting on Greenwood and American history books? Rosewood, it's difficult to fathom how peoMany decades later, investigative repor- ple could let the sin of racism infiltrate and ting would bring the horrific truth of these darken their hearts to commit such muratrocities to the forefront of the nation's derous acts. Yet, I believe those courageous conscience. Writing for the St. Petersburg Vernon A.M.E. souls who went to church Times in the early 1980s, Gary Moore pub- praising God after the massacre would tell lished several articles on Rosewood, and us not to lose faith. The fires destroyed more recently, the work of Washington their property and possessions but not Post reporter DeNeen L. Brown has their spirit. And we must hold on to this revived the buried stories of Tulsa. divine spirit of resiliency to ensure a better Brown is featured in "Tulsa: The Fire future. and the Forgotten," and her passionate stoDr. Jessica A. Johnson is a lecturer at rytelling provides viewers with an intimate Ohio State University. Email her at view of what happened to Black smojc.jj@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter: Greenwood residents and how their @JjSmojc
A look at current news from the continent of Africa by the military, deepening a political crisis and potentially setting up a standoff with international powers. Mozambique: According to a BBC report, People desperate to flee a town in northern Mozambique following a jihadist attack have had to pay bribes to leave after security forces set up roadblocks, trapping thousands. There are also growing fears of a humanitarian emergency in the area where aid agencies have not been given access. Senegal: The purchase of a new presidential plane is being decried as an unnecessary and irrelevant expense, leading to calls for accountability. Sierra Leone: Amnesty International has warned in a new report that survivors of traumatic experiences and others in need of support in Sierra Leone are being failed by the severe lack of available mental health services years after the country’s brutal civil war and devastating Ebola epidemic. South Africa: Prosecutors allege that former President Jacob Zuma received more than 700 bribes over the decade before he was president including cash payments from a French arms company on the opening day of Zuma’s corruption trial. Tanzania: Two months after the death of former president John Magafuli—who denied the seriousness of COVID and urged citizens to pray it away before himself succumbing to the deadly virus—Tanzania’s new President Samia Suluhu Hassan has issued strict recommendations to address the pandemic’s toll on the nation. Uganda: After widespread reports of election irregularities and bloody violence, Yoweri Museveni has been sworn in for his sixth term as president, as police surrounded the home of Bobi Wine, his main opposition rival who decried the inauguration as a “sham”.
