The+Tulsa+Race+Riots

Some may ask, why did the Tulsa Race Riots ever arise? Well, to be honest, a false accusation. Dick Rowland, a black man, walked into the elevator at the Drexel Building on May 30th, 1921. The woman operating the elevator, white woman Sarah Page, had screamed, and many thought she was assaulted. When Rowland was arrested, the headlines ticked off white people and black people. The white people were talking now of lynching… which of course made the blacks furious. People were growing more and more angrier, knowing something needed to be done. On the night of May 31, many whites and blacks gathered outside of the courthouse where Rowland was being held. While a white male was trying to disarm a black male, the gun had discharged… shoving the incident into a much greater racial conflict. Because of people’s fury, early on June 1st, black homes and businesses were burned into flames, and items were stolen from their homes. Unfortunately, the black population was greatly outnumbered. Though the black population was outnumbered 10:1, they started forming battle lines and trenches, because many of them were World War One veterans. The Tulsa police department was too small to end the rioters. Because of this, the mayor himself, T.D. Evans asked the governor to finally send in the National Guard. Smoke polluted the skies of the northern region of Tulsa. The final stand of the conflict finally came on foot of Standpipe Hill. According to the Tulsa Tribune, “the National Guard mounted two machine guns and fired into the area. The black groups surrendered and were disarmed. They were taken in columns to Convention hall, the McNulty Baseball Park, the Fairgrounds and to a flying field. Some survivors later alleged that planes were involved in the destruction of Greenwood City.” Many of the black people were forced into imprisonment, whereas many whites were allowed to return home. When it comes down to the question, how many lives were lost, it is very debatable. Estimates have ranged from 27 lives all the way to more than 250 lives. It took almost 10 full years to recuperate from the destruction of the riots. This particular part in our history is barely mentioned in text books, especially absent in Oklahoma text books. The documentation from the riots mysteriously ended up vanishing, unfortunately the actually memory survived. A survivor of the riot, George Monroe, had said, “I want people to know [about the riot], I want my children to know, that their daddy went through something.” You may ask, so what ever happened to Dick Rowland? Well, the charges that were up against him were never brought. The Tulsa Race Riot Commission was formed in 1997 to investigate and find out more about the riot of 1921.