What happened in Tulsa in 1921 was really
emblematic of the racial violence that pervaded
the United States during that period.
In fact, historians and sociologists refer
to the early part of the 20th century as the
nadir of race relations in America, the low
point of race relations in America, because
of the proliferation of these so-called race
riots — mostly invasions of Black communities
by vigilante white mobs — and because of
the prevalence of lynching, lynching being
a form of domestic terrorism targeting primarily
African Americans.
So this was a period fraught with racial violence
and historical racial trauma.
The event in Tulsa is the worst of the so-called
race riots during this period in terms of
its magnitude.
The business community in the Greenwood District,
the Black sector in Tulsa, was highly developed
— a great concentration of service providers,
like doctors, lawyers, pharmacists and dentists,
but all manner of business enterprises, small
businesses like movie theaters, dance halls,
barbershops, restaurants, grocery stores,
haberdasheries, shine shops — a real concentration
of Black entrepreneurship and Black wealth
in a 35-square-block area in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
separated from downtown Tulsa by the Frisco
tracks.
I wanted to go to Tulsa native, professor
Olivia Hooker, a survivor of the Greenwood
massacre, describing the attack on her community
that took place when she was just 6 years
old.
She was 92 when she did this interview.
I refuse to call it a “riot,” because
it was really, you know, whites decided to
burn down the homes of 10,000 people.
So, that was not a riot.
It was planned desecration.
… And when the mobs came in, they had those
pine, you know, knots all lighted up, and
they set things on fire.
And my mother refused to run, because she
was busy putting water on the house to try
to keep it from burning.
And so she put the children under the big
oak table.
You know, they had those great big tables
in those days, with little nooks under them.
So we were under the table when the mobs came
in.
So, that’s Tulsa native, professor Olivia
Hooker, talking about what happened in 1921.
And I wanted to ask you, Hannibal Johnson,
about President Trump choosing Tulsa.
Now, of course, there’s the surge, and we
know that COVID-19 hits the African American
community much harder than the rest of the
community in this country.
There’s a surge in Tulsa.
Many of the leaders are asking for it not
to be held there.
Can you respond to this choice of location
and the original date?
Right.
So, the rally is troubling to a lot of people
because of both the venue, Tulsa, and because
of the timing.
So, we’re in the midst of a COVID pandemic.
We’re in the midst of a surge here in Tulsa.
Bringing thousands of people together in a
tight space where it’s not possible to socially
distance, where people don’t have to wear
masks, those people are going to attend the
rally, then they’re going to spill out into
the community writ large and pose substantial
risk to all of us here.
So, that, in and of itself, is a problem.
The other problem with timing is that even
though the rally has now been moved to June
20th as opposed to June 19th, it’s still
Juneteenth weekend.
There still are festivities going on.
It’s a celebratory atmosphere of a very
significant day in our history, particularly
for African Americans.
The rally comes two-and-a-half weeks after
the 99th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa race
massacre.
So, it’s an issue of sensitivity at the
very least.
And the other dynamic that’s important to
think about is the character of the rally.
And we know something about the potential
character of the rally based on prior experience
with these sorts of rallies, which tend to
be raucous.
They tend to be exclusive rather than inclusive.
They tend to have elements of race and racism
as part of the experience.
So that troubles a lot of people, because,
here in Tulsa, we are working hard on reconciliation,
on moving our community closer together as
we approach the 100th anniversary of the 1921
Tulsa race massacre.
And the rally has the potential to be a disruptor
to where we are on the road to reconciliation.
