The Burning of Black Tulsa

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode includes disturbing language including racial slurs. In the early 20th century, Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was an epicenter of Black economic influence in the United States. However, in the early hours of June 1, 1921, a white mob — sanctioned by the Tulsa police — swept through the community burning and looting homes and businesses, and killing residents. A century later, the question before Congress, the courts and the United States as a whole is: What would justice look like? Guest: Brent Staples, a member of the New York Times editorial board.

Transcript

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0:00.0	My name is Viola Ford Fletcher.
0:03.8	I'm a survivor of the Tel-Sovarice massacre.
0:07.4	Two weeks ago, I celebrated by 107 birthday.
0:14.0	From New York Times, I'm Michael Bavar.
0:17.4	This is a daily.
0:23.7	Today I'm visiting Washington, D.C. for the first time in my life.
0:29.5	I'm here seeking justice and I'm asking my country to acknowledge what happened in Tulsa
0:36.6	in 1921.
0:39.0	100 years ago today, a massacre of black residents occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was promptly
0:48.5	and deliberately forgotten.
0:50.8	A country may forget this history, but I cannot.
0:54.6	I will not and other survivors do not and our descendants do not.
1:01.0	Now, the question before Congress, the courts, and the United States as a whole is what does
1:09.2	justice mean and look like for the victims of so heinous crime a century later.
1:18.2	I spoke with my colleague, editorial board member Brent Stables.
1:29.5	It's Tuesday, June 1st.
1:36.9	Brent, you have been reporting and researching what happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma for decades.
1:43.2	I wonder if we can start by having you describe Tulsa in the early 1900s.
1:49.5	Tulsa in the early 1900s was an oil town.
1:54.7	Oil is becoming very big at that point.
1:56.2	It's becoming a boom town.
1:58.8	As it boomed, it attracted more and more people to work in the oil fields and also to serve
	...

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