Tulsa Race Massacre Research Paper

The Tulsa Race Massacre is quite literally the most terrible racial incident in the United States, and you most likely haven't even heard about why or the underlying causes that played a part in it. On June 1, 1921, a large group of white citizens of Tulsa robbed and burned Greenwood, the infamous African American Business District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Numerous people died, but most of them, more than 300 of them, were African American. At the time and for decades after, the incident that happened that terrible night was referred to as the Tulsa Race Riot. What happened was not a riot but an organized attack on an established African American community, a massacre. The Tulsa Race Massacre did not just happen because of the alleged charges by Sarah Page against Dick Bowland, many underlying factors played into it. The Tulsa Race Massacre had an abundance of issues and events that led to the tragic event.

One of the underlying causes of the Tulsa Race Massacre was racial inequality and racial inferiority. Racial inferiority and Racial inequality for African Americans is the outcome of over 200 years of Slavery, Claude

Throughout the years 1907-1921, the total number of black-owned businesses in Greenwood grew from 8 to 108, truly showing how much Greenwood was turning into a very wealthy and very prosperous part of town in Tulsa. An eyewitness had said after they had the homes vacated, one bunch of whites would come in and loot. Even women with shopping bags would come in, open drawers, and take every kind of finery from clothing to silverware and jewelry. Men were carrying out the furniture, cursing as they did so, saying, “These [d---] Negroes have better things than lots of white people.” I stayed until my home was caught on