Tulsa Race Massacre - Rebirth | 4

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2019

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On June 2, 1921, thousands of black Tulsans interned at the Tulsa Fairgrounds woke under armed guard. Many had no idea where their loved ones were or if they were still alive; they didn’t know whether their homes were still standing or if they’d been ransacked by the white mob. As Greenwood residents worked to restart lives that had been violently interrupted, sympathy for the survivors exploded around the country. In Tulsa, some white business leaders vowed to help them rebuild. But city officials and greedy real estate speculators had other ideas—ideas that would push Greenwood residents off their valuable land forever.

But those white elites would fail to account for the ambition, leadership and tight bonds of community that Greenwood’s people had built over the years. What followed was one of the most astonishing displays of African American resilience in the 20th century. Against all odds, Black Wall Street would rise from the ashes.

If you’d like to learn more about the Tulsa Race Massacre, we recommend a few great books we drew on for this series:

Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District by Hannibal Johnson

Reconstructing the Dreamland: The Tulsa Riot of 1921 by Alfred Brophy

Riot and Remembrance by James S. Hirsch

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American History Tellers add free on Amazon Music, download the app today.
0:18.0	Imagine it's Thursday, June 2nd, 1921, and you're fighting panic.
0:22.0	You haven't seen your parents in two days, although you searched and searched for them at the crowded fairgrounds.
0:28.0	Henry, your parents' white projectionist at the Dreamland Theater sprung you from the internment camp and you stayed with him last night on the white side of town.
0:36.0	Now you're walking north toward home. You don't even know if the Dreamland is still standing, but you don't even care.
0:43.0	What you care about is finding your folks alive. Maybe they're back in Greenwood.
0:48.0	Then you turn the corner on Main Street and you can't believe your eyes.
0:51.0	Mom?
0:53.0	Your mother is rushing down the other side of the street. She doesn't hear you.
0:57.0	Car passes, obscuring your view, and you sprint across the street, reaching her and grab her arm.
1:02.0	Mom? Bill? Oh, honey, I've been looking for you all over. Are you okay?
1:07.0	Mom, I was so scared I'd never see you again.
1:10.0	The two of you hugged as tight as you ever have and on a normal day this would be embarrassing.
1:15.0	But this is not a normal day. You choke back tears.
1:18.0	Bill, it looks like you didn't get hurt. No, Mom, I didn't.
1:23.0	But I spent the night at the fairgrounds. It was so crowded and there were white men with guns everywhere.
1:28.0	I just kept looking for you and dad and Posey. They're okay. Poseys with dad and they're staying with your cousins.
1:34.0	It's a miracle. Their house got looted, but it wasn't torched. What about the Dreamland?
1:39.0	I'm so sorry, son. They burned it down. And the confectionery? Is that okay? It's gone too.
1:47.0	Those bastards. You mother hugs you again.
1:50.0	I'm upset too, son, but right now? Well, thank the Lord. You're all alive and all right and we have each other.
1:58.0	You start walking arm and arm toward Greenwood.
	...

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