Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

On May 31, 1921, a black man by the name of Dick Rowland was on an elevator operated by a white woman, Sarah Page. As the elevator jolted, Mr. Rowland accidentally grabbed Ms. Page’s arm. She accused him of assaulting her. He was arrested simply on her word. Rumors circulated that Rowland was going to be hanged that night.

Groups of blacks and whites gathered at the courthouse where Rowland was held. There were mediators for both sides, although they went unheard. A white man confronted an armed black man who had come to protect Rowland. The white man asked the black man why he had a gun. The black man replied that he would use it if he had to. The white man tried to take the gun from the black man. The gun went off. It hit the white man, and killed him. Thus the riot began (Morris). This is where the controversy begins.

“Sixty or seventy automobiles filled with armed men were in the line drawn about the black belt and there were many reports to the effect that they planned to range through the negro settlemen

During the riot, truckloads of whites set fires and shot blacks. More than 1,400 houses and buildings were set on fire. Machine guns were fired into crowds (Morris). Among all the damage, one of the buildings destroyed was the Mount Zion Church. It had just been constructed and opened for the North Tulsa black community six weeks earlier, then burned to the ground along with 35 blocks of Greenwood. It cost $85,000 to build, and the community had $50,000 still to pay back. Although the building was no longer standing, the debt was completely paid 21 years later (Blakey 104).

Morris, Jim. Tulsa panel seeks truth from 1921 race riot. CNN. 3 Feb. 2001

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In a search for the truth about the riot, two headstones were found at Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery that show riot victims are buried there. Archeologists used ground-piercing radars and other equipment to test the soil for unmarked graves to determine how many people are buried there. The tests picked up dozens, if not hundreds of bodies outside the cemetery (“Archaeologists”).

Some topics in this essay:
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