Why Teaching the Tulsa Race Riot Is More Than Just Teaching History

[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)

[Z_I_Peevey]

1. K&R

[SoCalDem]

2. I am 64 & this is the FIRST time I ever knew this happened

I'll bet I am not alone

[LeftInTX]

5. I never heard of it myself

[Z_I_Peevey]

14. It was not taught in Oklahoma history classes, never mentioned in the white community.

The Tulsa Race Riot Commission's work, http://www.okhistory.org/research/forms/freport.pdf , and the novel Fire in Beulah by Rilla Askew, http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/417870.Fire_in_Beulah , did much to bring this shameful incident to light.

[angstlessk]

3. Ya know..for each state we do the states history...I live in VA

DOES OK HISTORY TEACH ABOUT THIS HORROR?

Makes me wonder how much of VA history is hidden from me?

[BlueToTheBone]

4. They threw their bodies into the River and

there are pictures of it being clogged with bodies. It was horrible. I had a friend whose father owned the paper in Greenwood and he had all the pics and stories from that time.

[ReRe]

6. K&R

Thank you so much for this OP... History tells a story, SoCalDem. And I noticed a person who replied to the thread who was 64 and had never heard of this horrible historical event. I hope there are many other folks who come along and learn about this American tragedy. History is so important. What happened back then has shaped the country we live in now. The more history we learn, the more things start falling into place in our minds. Again, Thanks so much!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. The reason why events like this matter now more than ever...

There is a new generation of people who don't understand where the notion came from that racism was about a hell of a lot more than just an academic debate and verbal insults and "hurt feelings".

History shows that white people consider extermination to be an option.

[ReRe]

10. That's right.

"Strange Fruit" and the whole nine yards.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

7. John Conyers has introduced a bill at the start of every congress about this....

And every time it's been buried.

[DeSwiss]

8. K&R

See also: [font size=5 color=red]RED CRY[/font]

http://www.lakotagrandmothers.org/


- America has a great deal to answer for......

[ReRe]

11. K&R!!!

Now if we can just get our young DUers to watch and learn! Thank you so very very much!

[burrowowl]

12. K&R!!!!!

And I highly recommend: Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States"
ALL DU'ers should read this!

[Heidi]

13. I grew up and attended school 40 minutes from Tulsa, and didn't hear one word

about the Greenwood killings until I was in college. It should have been at least been a topic in seventh or eighth grade Oklahoma history.