
Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 - georgecmu
https://www.britannica.com/event/Tulsa-race-riot-of-1921
======
wpietri
Those interested should also read up on the Wilmington Insurrection:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington_insurrection_of_189...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington_insurrection_of_1898)

It's the only successful coup to take place on American soil. Wilmington, then
a majority-black city, was starting to see black elected officials and
prosperous black merchants. The white people wouldn't stand for that, and so
planned a coup. A coup that was successful: ~60 deaths; prominent black people
and integration-minded whites were ridden out of town on a rail. State and
national politicians just let it happened, and over time white people covered
it up. It was only leading up to the 100th anniversary that it was even
properly acknowledged.

Fresh Air did an excellent interview with the author of a new book on it:
[https://www.npr.org/2020/01/13/795892582/wilmington-s-lie-
au...](https://www.npr.org/2020/01/13/795892582/wilmington-s-lie-author-
traces-the-rise-of-white-supremacy-in-a-southern-city)

I have it on order and am looking forward to reading it.

~~~
wpietri
And I should add that both these incidents were part of The Nadir:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadir_of_American_race_relatio...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadir_of_American_race_relations)

For decades in the late 1800s and early 1900s, this sort of ethnic cleansing
was common across the US, and it was part of the Nadir's broader pattern of
rising white supremacy. Having never heard a peep about this in school, I was
skeptical. But Loewen's "Sundown Towns" convinced me with its mix of document-
driven, narrative, and data-driven history: [https://www.amazon.com/Sundown-
Towns-Hidden-Dimension-Americ...](https://www.amazon.com/Sundown-Towns-Hidden-
Dimension-American/dp/0743294483)

It's been a valuable reminder to me lately that progress in civil rights is
less robust than it seems, and can go into retreat for decades if we let it.

~~~
claudeganon
I too learned almost nothing of this history in public school. Only because I
took an elective course on the civil rights movement as an undergrad did I
ever learn about Tulsa, lynching postcards, Emmett Till, the Birmingham
bombings, and countless other acts of horror that were part of the normal
fabric of American life.

It was a profound and radicalizing experience. Even moreso when you think how
few outside of the affected communities ever have that opportunity and indeed
are often intentionally driven away from or are indoctrinated against ever
experiencing the same.

~~~
wpietri
Totally agreed. And I think it's no accident that white-run schools don't end
up teaching the history of white violence. Between the organized propaganda
campaigns of groups like the Daughters of the Confederacy [1], the desire
everywhere for history to instill pride and obedience in children, and the
natural tendency not to want to think about thinks that are personally
unpleasant, I'm not shocked that I had to find out about this stuff entirely
by accident and on my own. Pure POSIWID, of course. [2]

[1] For example, the Confederate Catechism:
[https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/05/29/con...](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/05/29/confederate-
catechism/102300030/)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_wha...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does)

------
faintrain
At one point in US history from 1863-1930, the lynching of black men was a
regular occurrence throughout the Midwest and South.

Another fun fact is that most slaveholding families recovered their wealth
less than one generation later through their connections and the white
terrorism that let them reclaim their power.

I’d recommend checking out the museum dedicated to these lynching victims in
Birmingham, Alabama, the Legacy Museum and National Memorial to Peace and
Justice.

Sources: [https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/04/04/the-
sons-...](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/04/04/the-sons-of-
slaveholders-quickly-recovered-their-fathers-wealth)

[https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/memorial](https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/memorial)

[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/map-shows-over-
a-c...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/map-shows-over-a-century-of-
documented-lynchings-in-united-states-180961877/)

------
NullInvictus
It feels like there is never enough time to get the kind of history lessons
out there that are needed, and the time we do have is spent so inefficiently.

I'm not a student of these incidents, but its important just to get a sense of
the scale in number of incidents of these race riots. Just two years
previously, a particularly bad year in 1919 saw over two dozen(in part known
as 'The Red Summer') recorded riots.

And they were everywhere. Just google '<major city> race riot', and you'll
probably hit at least one, even for what are now liberal and metropolitan
cities.

Then bear in mind, like Tulsa, many of these pogroms and lynchings were the
victim of a cover up. The 'law' enforcing whites were often participants.
Documents conveniently disappeared, survivors were terrified into silence, and
witnessing whites told investigating officials that they just saw nothing that
day. Any hard number you find out there is probably conservative because we
just don't know.

Not everyone was sending around post cards of the dead and destroyed like in
Tulsa, although many certainly did. If you're curious, there is an entire
Wikipedia article on "Lynching Postcards". The imagery is disturbing, so you
can find it yourself.

Even outside of understanding race relations, this and labor rights
suppression (another incredibly undertaught topic) show how 'recent' and
fragile the Rule of Law is in this country.

------
wyldfire
This is the one depicted in the new "Watchmen" series on HBO btw. A great
watch for fans of the original comic or film.

Probably not interesting to history or civil rights buffs though.

~~~
lolptdr
I have to thank Watchmen series for educating me in something I knew nothing
about before.

------
papito
Even the bombing from planes was not made up. I suggest one of the last
episodes of Stuff You Should Know podcast on it - they did a lot of legwork
researching the event.

