Riot on Greenwood

The Total Destruction of Black Wall Street

Eddie Faye Gates

• Publisher: Eakin Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781681791814
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Violence in Society
• Index: Social Sciences

Here is an in-depth account of the worst riot in U.S. history, the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, assembled by one of Tulsa's most important oral historians and community activists. "Using her breadth of knowledge, her many contact, and the trust she's engendered in the Greenwood community, Gates has gathered the largest collection of survivors' stories to appear in one volume. Placing these stories in historical context, and adding those of survivors' descendents and white eyewitnesses, Gates brings the full story of the riot and its aftermath vividly alive for the reader." - Rilla Askew, award- winning author of The Mercy Seat and Fire in Beulah (a novel about the riot).

CHAPTER 1

Guts, Glory, and Greed: the Settlement of the Americas The Collective Black Experience

To understand the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, one can’t begin with the events of May 31 and June 1, 1921. One must begin centuries earlier with the settling of the Americas and thoroughly examine the complex patterns of good and of evil that set the stage for the political, economic, and social conditions that led to brutality, racism, revolutions, and riots in the Americas. A thorough exploration of the past is necessary in order to grasp the ambiguities of the history of the Americas and how those ambiguities came to one day affect Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Let us look at the basics of history—the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the recording of history in nations. Here are some basic questions that must be examined and answered if one is to know history and to benefit from its lessons.

WHO?

First, we must know who wrote history in the past and who writes history today. Basically, little has changed regarding the writing of history. In the past, it was the conquerors who wrote history, those leaders in control of the nations of the then-known world. They controlled their nations and greatly influenced political, economic, and social phenomena in their countries. The history being written then mainly chronicled the lives of the rich and powerful. Today, history is still being written mainly by the privileged, but there is more focus on the history of all individuals. Today one can read about women, minorities, environmental issues, and various other topics that cover a multitude of previously unthought-of topics.

WHAT?

History is the written record of human events. The invention of writing is one of the most important events ever to occur in the history of mankind. From it, mankind gained access to a greater knowledge of the world. Along with oral traditions, and artifacts, including human remains, mankind now had a better way of recording and sharing its history.

WHERE?

Since history is the record of human events, it is found, and made, all over the globe, from land masses and vast bodies of water on the earth, to outer space.

WHEN?

Many scholars, from many places in the world, have written about writing and the effects of written history upon mankind. One of my favorite sources on information about the significance of history and about the world’s prominent historians of the past is The Westminister Historical Atlas to the Bible, edited by George Ernest Wright and Floyd Vivian Filson, the Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1946. From that fine old masterpiece I learned who the first great historians were, who replaced them, and why, and what glorious legacies and lessons they left for all mankind.

WHY?

History is so important because it shows us how peoples and nations, from the beginning of mankind to the present, utilize their natural resources, determine their customs, culture, values, institutions, and organizations, develop ways of helping their people internalize those values, and pass those values on to future generations.

HOW?

There are so many powerful lessons to be learned from the study of history. Mankind can use the lessons of history to avoid patterns of thought and behavior that do not promote peace, harmony, and prosperity in the world. People can use and enhance patterns of thought and behavior that do promote peace.

In addition to the above short overview about the significance of history for all mankind, let us look briefly at some of the historical records of the past to see why certain topics were chosen for examination and recording, why certain topics were avoided, and what is happening in the world of history today.

In the past, the history that was recorded was “self-preservation” history, which means history that protected, and promoted, the status quo—the continuation of the political, economic, and social condition in nations at that time. Topics that would promote the collective good were chosen. Controversial topics that could lead to division in nations were avoided.

Today, historical topics are more inclusive. Topics previously avoided because they were thought to be divisive are now openly examined, discussed, and recorded both in print and via electronic media—topics such as race, religion, sex, and politics.

New finds constantly bring about changes to the historical record. In the past, events were sometimes ignored or even worse, covered up. Today, they are instant evening-television news, and formerly accepted “old truths” are purged from the records and “new truths” are inserted. That does not mean that the historical record is perfect today. There can still be hidden agendas, coverups, and conflicts regarding “new history.” New discoveries in archaeology and history tend to cause excitement all over the world; they also bring controversy as experts struggle over what is valid from the past, what is not, and how to redefine history.

The historian is always about the business of

1.Locating primary sources.

2.Locating secondary sources.

3.Making assumptions
and inferences based on those findings.

4.Writing compelling narratives about their findings.

Let us look further at the history of the Americas so we can see how attitudes, behaviors, and events of the past would eventually affect black people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921 and would result in the worst race riot in U.S. history. An understanding of this early history of the Americas, and of the people who settled there, is absolutely necessary if individuals and nations are to truly connect those long-ago events to the present and learn valuable lessons from the past that can help mankind have a better future.

In preparing for this chapter, I dug out books, class notes, and papers from my undergraduate study days at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in the 1950s and from whatever university offered classes at the bases where my military husband was stationed. Between 1954 and 1968, I studied at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, the University of Maryland’s overseas branch at Burtonwood Royal Air Force Base in Warrington, England, and the University of North Dakota. I also got out my graduate study materials from the University of Tulsa and from further study programs in which I participated after I received my graduate degree.

Books that were helpful were classic books about African history, about the settlement in the Americas by people from Africa, about various expansion movements and expeditions, and about the Atlantic slave trade such as “The History and Description of Africa, Leo Africanus, New York, (n.d.); “They Came Before the Mayflower,” Lerone Bennett, Johnson Publishing Company, Chicago, 1959; “Central Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade,” Roland Oliver, Oxford University Press, England, 1968; “Topics in West African History,” A. A. Boahen, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1969; “A Glorious Africa,” E. Chu and E.A. Skinner, Doubleday-Zenith, Garden City, New York, 1965; “Through African Eyes: Cultures in Change,” Leon Clark, Praeger Press, New York, 1969; “The African Slave Trade,” Basil Davidson, Atlantic-Little Brown, Boston, 1961; “Great Rulers of the African Past,” L. Dobler and W.A. Brown, Doubleday-Zenith, Garden City, New York, 1965; “A History of West Africa,” J.D. Fage, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1969; “Peoples of Africa,” James L. Gibbs, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York, 1965; “A History of the African People,” Robert July, Praeger Press, New York, 1986; “Tropical Africa: Land and Livelihood, Vol. I and Vol. II, George H.T. Kimble, Twentieth Century Fund, New York, 1960; “The Afro-Asian World,” Edward Kolevzon, Allyn & Bacon, Inc., Boston, 1972; “The Peoples and Policies of South Africa,” Leo Marquand, Oxford University Press, New York, 1969; “The Middle Age of African History,” Roland Oliver, Oxford University Press, London, 1967; “An American Dilemma,” Gunnar Myrdal, New York, 1962; “The Dawn of African History, Oxford University Press, Simon and Phoebe Ottenburg, New York, 1968; “Africa: Tradition and Change,” E. Rich and I. Wallerstein, Random House, New York, 1973; “ West Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade,” W. Rodney, Northwestern University, Chicago, 1967; “The Peculiar Institution,” Dr. Kenneth Stampp, Random House, New York, 1956; “The Black Man in the United States,” Edgar Toppin, Allyn & Bacon, 1973; “The Lonely African,” Colin Turnbull, Anchor Press, New York, 1963; “Pictorial History of the Black American,” Baldwin H. Ward, 1973; “A Reader’s Guide to African Literature,” Hans Zell and Helene Silver, African Publishing Corporation, Holmes and Meier, New York, 1983; “They Came Before Columbus,” Dr. Ivan van Sertima, 1976 (also other writings by Dr. van Sertima—“Egypt Revisited,” 1990; “African Presence in Early America, 1987; “Early America Revisited,” 1998); “Race Matters,” Dr. Cornel West, Beacon Press, Boston, 1993 (a native Tulsan);

Helpful with the Reconstruction period of history, and the subsequent westward-migrations era with its history of conflicts and difficulties between migrating pioneers in search of Promised Lands, were the following books:

“Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier,” Ray Allen Billington, Macmillan, New York, 1974; The South During Reconstruction, 1865-1877,” E. Merton Coulter, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1947; “The Freedmen’s Bureau, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Atlantic Monthly, LXXXVII, 1901. (“The Souls of Black Folk,” also by DuBois, Amereon, Ltd., New York, 1977 reprint of 1907 ed., is a must-read book for all who want to learn how it feels to be conflicted by racism); “Reconstruction: Political and Economic, William Archibald Dunning, Essay Index Reprint Service, 1977 reprint of 1907 ed; “Documentary History of Reconstruction,” Walter Lynwood Fleming, BCLI-U.S. History Service, 1993 reprint of 1907 ed; “Reconstruction After the Civil War,” Dr. John Hope Franklin, University of Chicago Press, 1961; “The Buffalo Soldiers,” William Leckie, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1975; “The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer,” Oscar Micheaux, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1994 reprint from 1913 ed; “Reunion Without Compromise: Reunion Without Compromise, 1865-1868,” Michael Perman, Cambridge University Press, Boston, 1973; “New Viewpoints of Southern Reconstruction,” American Historical Review, XLV,; “Historians of the Reconstruction,” A.A. Taylor, Journal of Negro History, XXIII, 1938; “The Negro in the Civil War,” Benjamin Quarles,” University of North Carolina Press, 1961; “Origins of the New South, C. Vann Woodward, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1951;

Copies of old newspapers were helpful. Modern newspapers were also helpful to the commission. 2001 and 2002 have been banner years for the print media and its dissemination of information to the world should bear fruit as mankind becomes more educated about the inhumanity of man and seeks to solve the dilemma of racism, revolts, massacres, genocide, and wars forever. The following “Smoking Gun” headlines of the past three years garnered world attention and validated long-held theories by some of the world’s experts that Africans were the first settlers in the Americas:

“Ancient Skull, an Americas Mystery,” Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, REUTERS NEWS, September 27, 1999

“Archaeological Site in Peru Is Called Oldest City in Americas,” NEW YORK TIMES, April 27, 2001

“Site Sheds Light on Ancient Urban Life,” THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, April 27, 2001

“The World of Science Becomes a Global Village,” NEW YORK TIMES, May 1, 2001

“Human-Like Remains May be of Earliest Ancestors,” Mark Evans, ASSOCIATED PRESS, July 12, 2001

“Peru May be a First in Urban Living,” Paul Recer, ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 27, 2001

“Dealing with the Legacy of Slavery,” FOR A CHANGE, August/September 2001

“The Art Behind Modern Behavior,” THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, March 21, 2002

“Learning: Lesson No. 1: Shed Your Indian Identify,” THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, April 2, 2002

Another most helpful resource for me was an unpublished manuscript written by Robert Littlejohn. That manuscript, and the personal help of Robert Littlejohn when I visited historical sites and research centers, was invaluable to me while I was writing this book. Littlejohn, an officer in the North Tulsa Historical Society, is one of the best researchers that I have ever known, barring none! He is a retired research scientist from Amoco Productions (now British Petroleum) in Tulsa. He has a degree in geology from the University of Tulsa and worked for years all over the U.S. and overseas at various oil sites. He did graduate study in paleontology and is one of a handful of black paleontologists. He is one of the most meticulous of researchers. He taught me to always carry plenty of change to print copies of research immediately. He learned the hard way, years ago, how the “hidden agenda” network works in a society that is not yet totally equal and just. In his early research experience days, he often went back to research and copy from documents he had previously examined only to find them missing. Officials would insist that they never had such documents, until Bob Littlejohn would pull out printed copies from his previous research. Some officials stubbornly “held their own” and kept the removed documents hidden. Others, quietly and secretively, circumvented the system, often at great risk, to get materials into the hands of those who were writing true history. Most of the writings about race-related history in the nation, and especially in Oklahoma, were “hidden agenda, “white-slanted” history. Black researchers jokingly refer to it as “three dot” history because when any references would have clearly defined the subject as black, those references were left out and the three dots (ellipsis) substituted. One can only speculate at what this country could have been if that editing of history had not occurred. Perhaps much of the racial turmoil that has plagued us for so long could have been avoided if the true story of all the people had been told.

To help people do better research and better writing, Robert Littlejohn has given lectures and workshops locally, statewide, nationally, and overseas. He teaches how to go to the original sources for historical information and how to fill in the gaps left by “three dot” historians. He specializes in mound cultures and carefully shows the audience how artifacts—human and material—show an African presence in the Americas that predates all other human explorations. His annual guided bus tours during Juneteenth to all-black towns are sellout events. Robert Littlejohn and Curtis Lawson, another North Tulsa Historical Society officer, a former state legislator and freelance writer, are writing a book about Africans settling the Americas. They are both descendants of these early African explorers who first settled in Central America, then migrated to Mexico, and then to North America, where their final settlement was in Oklahoma! (These people of African descent were never slaves like the majority of present day-African-Americans were.)

Documents that were helpful in preparing this chapter were:

Dawes Hearings Documents.

Curtis Hearings Documents.

Many other documents from the National Archives, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, and Howard University in Washington, D.C., which will be discussed in further detail in following chapters.

Electronic media productions are also very helpful in helping individuals understand history. One of the best documentary films that I have ever seen is the Robert J. Emery documentary film The Genocide Factor: The Human Tragedy, which aired six times on television in April 2002, and reached nearly 80% of the U.S. viewing audience. It would not surprise me if that film was nominated for an Oscar in 2003! The film begins with this quote:

In an attempt to present a complete examination of man’s inhumanity to man, The Genocide Factor contains documented atrocities not officially classified as genocide, as originally defined by Raphael Lemkin or by the United Nations Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide. Along with the historical facts and documentation, this program presents the individual opinions of survivors, witnesses, scholars, experts, and government officials.

Among the government officials featured in the film are President George W. Bush and numerous other world leaders. Also in the film are major spokespersons for the United Nations, Genocide Watch, Amnesty International, and other organizations dedicated to the protection of human rights for all mankind. Scholars and experts on human rights, riots, and massacres from all over the world were interviewed, and their comments are vital and valuable. (The Oklahomans appearing in the film were Wilma Mankiller, former principal chief of the Cherokees, Tulsa Race Riot 1921 survivors Eldoris McCondichie, Juanita Burnett Arnold, and Otis Granville Clark, and me, Eddie Faye Gates, commissioner on the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921).

Each of the hourlong segments of this thorough, impeccably documented film, which took three years to make, began with a quote from the Bible: “Take heed . . . lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and . . . teach them to your children and your children’s children” (Deut. 4:9).

The series then proceeds to cover the history of genocide that has...