TheLoop21.com

By: Susan Anderson (follow this member)
Wed, 05/20/2009 - 00:00

The long journey toward reparations for the survivors of the Tulsa, Oklahoma riot of 1921 is one step further since Congressman John Conyers introduced the John Hope Franklin Tulsa-Greenwood Race Riot Claims Accountability Act of 2009 in April. The bill is now in committee.  And, in Los Angeles, on Sunday May 31, a documentary film, Before They Die, will screen to benefit the survivors of the Tulsa riot.

The Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa was considered America’s “black Wall Street,” with its theaters, hotels, restaurants, newspapers, professionals, businesses, even millionaires in the community of 15,000. The father of John Hope Franklin
was a prominent Greenwood attorney.

The Tulsa riot is considered the costliest episode of the reign of terror against African Americans in the early 20th century.   The riot started after 19-year-old Dick Rowland possibly stepped on the foot of 17-year-old white elevator operator, Sarah Page, when he entered the elevator on May 31, 1921. Rowland was arrested for assault. A lynch mob formed. Newspapers urged mob action.

In 16 hours, up to 10,000 whites destroyed 35 square blocks, 1200 homes, six churches, a school and library, offices of dentists, doctors and lawyers and killed at least 300 blacks. The men deputized by the police department looted and burned.  The state ordered airplanes to drop fire bombs on Greenwood in the first bombing of an American city by planes. Following the riots, 10,000 African Americans were homeless. Those who didn’t escape Tulsa were forced into “refugee” camps and had to carry green cards.

In 2001, the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 submitted its findings to the state. Commissioners were unanimous in supporting reparations including: direct payments to survivors and descendants; a scholarship fund;  economic development in historic Greenwood, and a memorial to victims. The state of Oklahoma and city of Tulsa have done nothing. 

Survivors have been trying to claim compensation for nearly 90 years. Immediately after the riots, the black community sued for more than $4 million in claims. All were denied. Today, the Tulsa Reparations Coalition and Harvard attorney Charles Ogletree are among those pursuing justice for the survivors. 

Susan D. Anderson teaches, speaks and writes about African American history, politics and culture. She is the author of Nostalgia for a Trumpet: Poems of Memory and History, published by Northwestern University Press. She has been a Visiting Professor at Pitzer College, a contributor to the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion since 1999, and currently manages an archival program at the USC Libraries. 

Photo by imarcc at flickr.