Recently, I was watching a television programme where the two “Hairy Bikers”, Si King and Dave Myers, were following Route 66 across America. One of the places at which they stopped was Tulsa in Oklahoma, where they visited the city’s best known soul food joint. It was here that they learnt of one of the darker chapters in American history - the Greenwood Massacre. On 30th May 1921, a black teenager entered a lift in an office building. The white female lift operator screamed once the lift was in motion and the lad fled from the building. The Police were called and the teenager, Dick Rowland, was found and arrested.
Later that day, a front page story in the Tulsa Tribune stated that the teenager had sexually assaulted the girl. An angry mob of white people gathered, demanding that the teenager be handed over to them. Later that evening, a group of about 25 armed black men arrived at the Courthouse to offer the Sherriff help in guarding the teenager. The group of white men swelled their numbers and, by 10pm, there were 1,500 white men, many armed, facing off 75 black men.
Starting the next day, that is one hundred years ago today, the area of Greenwood, an African American area in Tulsa, was effectively destroyed. It has been estimated that 1,256 houses were burned, 215 others were looted plus a school, library, hospital, hotels, shops and even churches were destroyed. It has also been suggested that up to 300 people were killed, although the Government statistics stated this figure as 36: 26 black and 10 white.
The whole event was swept under the carpet – the Tulsa Tribune destroyed all records of that front page, Police archives went missing and it was never written about in history books. However, following legislation, the event has finally been taught in schools since 2004 and included in the history books since 2009.
Dick Rowland was acquitted, left the town and was not heard of again.
Kept from the History Books
Blog entry posted in 'Kept from the History Books', May 31, 2021.
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