Black History Month

"BLACK WALL STREET"
"A Dream Lost "

A little- known chapter of African-American history in Oklahoma as told to Ronald E. Childs. If anyone truly believes that Columbine High School massacre or the on the Federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was the most tragic bombing ever to take place on United States soil as the media has been widely reporting, they're wrong plain and simple. That's because an even deadlier bomb occurred in the same state to forget that it ever happened. Searching under the heading of "riots," "Oklahoma," and "Tulsa" in current editions of the World Book Encyclopedia, there is conspicuously no mention of the Tulsa race riot of 1921, and this omission is by no means a surprise, or a rare case. The fact is, one would be hard-pressed to find documentation of the incident, let alone an accurate accounting of it, in any other "scholarly" reference or American history book. That's precisely the point that noted author, publisher and orator Ron Wallace, a Tulsa native, sought to make nearly five years ago when he began researching this riot, one of the worst incidents of violence ever visited upon people of African descent. Ultimately joined on the project by colleague Jay Jay Wilson of Los Angeles, the duo found and compiled indisputable evidence of what they now describe as,
"The Black Holocaust in America."

The date was June 1, 1921, when "Black Wall Street," the name fittingly given to one of the most affluent all-black communities in America, was bombed from the air and burned to the ground by mobs of envious whites. In a period spanning fewer than 12 hours, a once thriving 36-black business district in northern Tulsa lay smoldering-A model community destroyed, and a major African-American economic movement resoundingly defused. The night's carnage left some 3,000 African-Americans dead, and over 600 successful businesses lost. Among these were 21 churches, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores and two movie theaters, plus a hospital, a bank, a post office, libraries, schools, law offices, a half-dozen private airplanes and even a bus system. As could be expected, the impetus behind it all was the infamous Ku Klux Klan, working in consort with ranking city officials, and many other sympathizers. In their self-published book,
"Black Wall Street: A lost dream," The authors have chronicled for the very first time in the words of area historians and elderly survivors what really happened there on that fateful summer day in 1921 and why it happened.
Ron Wallace similarly explained to Black Elegance why this bloody event from the turn of the century seems to have had a recurring effect that is being felt in predominately Black neighborhoods even to this day. The best description of Black Wall Street or Little Africa as it was also known would be to liken it to a mini-Beverly Hills. It was the golden door of the Black community during the early 1900s, and it proved that African-Americans had successful infrastructure. That's what Black Wall Street was about. The dollar circulated 36 to 1000 times, sometimes tacking a year for currency to leave the community. Now in 1999, a dollar leaves the Black community in 15 minutes. As far as resources, there were Ph.D's residing in little Africa, Black attorneys and Doctors. One Doctor was Dr. Berry who also owned the Bus system. His average income was $500 a day, a hefty pocket change in 1910. During that era, physicians owned medical school. There were also pawn shops everywhere, brothels, jewelry stores, 21 churches, 21 restaurants and two movie theaters. It was a time when the entire state of Oklahoma had only two airports yet six Blacks owned their own Airplanes. It was a very fascinating community. The area encompassed over 600 businesses and 36 square with a population of 15,00 African-Americans. And the lower-economic Europeans looked over and saw what the Black community created, many of them were jealous. When the average student went to school on Black Wall Street he wore a suit and tie because the morals and respect they were taught at an early age. The mainstay of the community was to educate every child. Nepotism was the word of they believed in. and that's what we need to get back to in 1999.
The main thoroughfare was Greenwood Ave, and Archer and Pine Streets intersected it. From the First letters in each of those names you get G.A.P., and that’s where the renowned R&B music group the GAP Band got it's name. They're from Tulsa. Black Wall Street was a prime example of the typical Black community in America that did business, but it was in an unusual location. You see, at the time, Oklahoma was set aside to be Black and Indian State. There were 28 Black Townships there. One third of the people who traveled in the terrifying " Trail of Tears" alongside the Indians between 1830 to 1842 were Black people. The citizens of this proposed Indian and Black State chose a Black Governor, a treasurer from Kansas named McDade. But the Ku Klux Klan said that if he assumed office they would kill him within 48 hours. A lot of Blacks owned farmland, and many of them had gone into the oil business. The community was so tight and wealthy because they traded dollars hand-to-hand, and because they were dependent upon one another as a result of Jim Crow laws. It was not unusual that if a resident's home accidentally burned down, it could be rebuilt within a few weeks by neighbors. This was the type of scenario that was going on day-to-day on Black Wall Street. When Blacks intermarried into the Indian culture, some of them received their promised 40 acres and a mule, and with that came whatever oil was later found on there properties, just to so how wealthy a lot of Black people were, there was a Banker in a neighboring town who had a wife named California Taylor. Her father owned the largest cotton gin west of the Mississippi River. When California shopped, she would take a cruise to Paris every three months to have clothes made. There was also a man named Mason in nearby agner County who had the largest potato farm west of the Mississippi. When he harvested, he would fill 100 box cars a day. Another Brother not far away had the same thing with a Spinach farm. The typical family then was Five children or more, though the typical farm family would have 10 kids or more who made up the nucleus of labor. On black Wall Street, A lot of global business was conducted. The community Flourished from the early 1900s until June 1, 1921. That’s when the largest massacre of nonmilitary Americans took place, and it was lead by the Ku Klux Klan. Imagine walking out of your front door and seeing 1,500 homes being set ablaze. It must have been amazing. Survivors that were interviewed think the whole thing was planned because during that time that the massacre was going on, White families with their children stood around on the borders of the community and watched the carnage, the looting and everything ---much in the same manner that they would watch a lynching.
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE WORD PICNIC ORIGINATES FROM?
It was was typical to have a picnic on Friday nights in Oklahoma. The word is short for "pick a Nigger" to lynch. They would lynch a black male and cut off body parts for souvenirs. This went on every weekend in this country.
"Why Did It Happen"

The riots weren't caused by anything Black or White. It was caused by jealousy. A lot of white folks had come back from World War 1 and they were poor. When they looked over into the Black communities and realized that the Black men who fought in the war had come home heroes, this helped trigger the destruction. It cost the Black community everything, and not a single dime of restitution--no insurance claims-- have been awarded to the victims to this day. None the less, they rebuilt. We estimate that 1,500 to 3,00 people were killed and we know that a lot of the bodies were buried in mass graves all around the city. Some were dumped in the river. As a matter of fact, at 21st street and Yale Avenue, where there now stands a Sears parking lot, that corner used to be a Coalmine. They threw a lot of the bodies into the shafts. Black American don't know about this story because we don't the word Holocaust to our struggle. Jewish people use the word, holocaust. It's politically correct to use it. But when we Black folks use the H word, people think we're being crybabies or that we're trying to bring up old issues. No one comes to our support. In 1910, our forefathers and mothers owned 13 million acres of land at the height of racism in this country, so the Black Wall Street book prove the nay sayers and revisionists that we had our act together. Our mandate now is to begin to teach our children about our own ongoing Black holocaust. They have to know when they look at our communities today that we don't come from this.

This is the last day of BLACK HISTORY MONTH, I would like to thank all of the readers for letting me share with you this month a little about Black History.

Teresa Hill