Tulsa Race Massacre Update: Excavating Mass Graves | 7

American History Tellers

Wondery

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

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2020

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

New archaeological evidence suggests mass graves holding the remains of victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre may exist on two sites in Tulsa. And now scientists plan to excavate portions of those sites to try and uncover the truth. Residents for years had asked the city to take similar steps but until now it hasn’t happened. On this episode we get an update on these developments from Hannibal B. Johnson, an attorney and historian who has written several books on the Massacre. He joins us from Tulsa to talk about what this excavation could uncover and what it means when a community reckons with the darkest part of its history.

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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,
0:05.6	download the app today.
0:09.0	Imagine it's July 1919 in Washington, D.C.
0:22.4	You live in the neighborhood of LaDroid Park, and we'll soon go back to a high school nearby.
0:27.2	The summer's already half over.
0:29.2	Still, this Monday evening, the humidity is so thick that even the walls of your bedroom seem to sweat.
0:35.2	You're lying in your bed by the window, hoping that the faintest breeze might catch your arms when you hear shouts from down the street.
0:43.2	Sitting up, you lean out the window to get a better look, but you can't make out much in the twilight.
0:48.5	Whatever it is, makes your stomach churn.
0:51.8	That's when your older brother, Louis, bursts into the room.
0:55.6	Get away from that window.
0:57.3	He's out of breath, like he's been running.
0:59.4	What's going on?
1:00.9	It's a mob, a white mob. They're coming up second street, and they've got guns, and they're destroying everything.
1:06.7	Where's mom?
1:07.6	She's fine. She's fine. She's here, but I need you to come with me.
1:11.3	That's when you realize that your brother's carrying two rifles.
1:14.4	Come on, we're going to the roof.
1:18.1	Friday night, four days ago, a white woman said she'd been assaulted and robbed by two black men near Capitol Hill.
1:25.0	There didn't seem to be any evidence to back up her story, but that didn't stop gangs of white soldiers
1:30.2	from mobbing a black neighborhood south of the mall over the weekend.
1:33.8	And then this morning, the Washington Post called for more white servicemen to mobilize and clean up the city.
	...

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