Oklahoma

Commemoration of the Tulsa Massacre Has Put Symbolism Over Justice for the Victims

by Victor Luckerson

"The neighborhood’s historical fame has become a kind of albatross slung over Black Tulsans’ necks, as efforts at building concrete pathways toward justice are buried under hollow symbolism."

The Tulsa Race Massacre was an Attack on Black People; Rebuilding Policies were an Attack on Black Wealth

by Brentin Mock

Victor Luckerson looks to the aftermath of the deadly attacks on the Greenwood district to argue that Tulsa's white leadership, in combination with federal highway and urban renewal programs, thwarted the efforts of Black Tulsans who were determined to rebuild. 

Tulsa's Black Wall Street Should be a National Monument

by Erik Loomis

Grassroots pressure to commemorate the site of the Tulsa massacre portends more public recognition of racial violence in American history. 

Rednecks for Kennedy: How an Urban Democrat Could Build Bridges to Rural America

by Jeff Bloodworth

The cultural divide between urban and rural America is real and politically significant. But the Kennedy administration's success in Oklahoma shows that a coalition can be built with a combination of transactional politics and committed outreach. 

Tulsa Schools Downgraded by State after Teacher Complains Implicit Bias Training "Shames" White People

“In Tulsa, we are teaching our children an accurate — and at times painful, difficult, and uncomfortable — history about our shared human experience. We also teach in a beautifully diverse community and need our team to work together to be prepared to do that well,” reads a district statement on the decision. 

A Historic All-Black Oklahoma Town Wants Reparations to Rebuild as a "Safe Haven"

“Oklahoma’s Black communities are overdue,” said Mayor Currin, 38, a fourth-generation Tullahassee resident. “Tullahassee has always been in a fight, always fighting to exist and always fighting to thrive."

'Dodging bullets' and coming home to 'nothing left': An illustrated history of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

by Todd Pendleton and Mason Callejas

The Oklahoman presents an illustrated history of the Greenwood community and the Tulsa race massacre with primary accounts. 

What The Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed

"Piecing together archival maps and photographs, with guidance from historians, The New York Times constructed a 3D model of the Greenwood neighborhood as it was before the destruction."

What Is Critical Race Theory And Why Did Oklahoma Just Ban It?

by Kathryn Schumaker

Attacks on "critical race theory" in Oklahoma's legislature are part of a political effort to prevent discussion of the state's racist past – the legislature made CRT a culture war issue as the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre approaches. Here's why we need more, not less, of the ideas behind CRT.

Tulsa Race Massacre Commission Ousts Oklahoma Governor

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission removed Gov. Kevin Stitt from the panel just days after he had signed a bill that banned the teaching of certain concepts about race.

The ‘Whitewashing’ of Black Wall Street

Black business owners in the Greenwood district of Tulsa argue that the city's redevelopment plans for the area will erase the history of the 1921 race massacre, even as that history has begun to be recovered. 

There is Nothing Sacred About the Military Vote

by Rachel Gunter

After a patient count, Joe Biden has claimed victory, and fears that late-arriving military absentee ballots could be subject to litigation that might decide the election have receded. This is fortunate, because history shows parties won't hesitate to interfere with the military vote for political advantage.

Human Remains Found in Search for 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Victims

Two coffins were discovered in Oaklawn Cemetery, where victims of the 1921 anti-Black massacre were buried. Forensic analysis has not yet connected the remains to the violent mob attacks on the city's Black community.

Watching “Watchmen” as a Descendant of the Tulsa Race Massacre

While the HBO series directed national attention to the Tulsa massacre, some Black descendants of the residents of the Greenwood district targeted by mob violence and arson were uncomfortable with their families' tragedy being mined for dramatic purposes. 

The McGirt Case Is a Historic Win for Tribes

by Julian Brave NoiseCat

Gorsuch, a westerner with experience in Indian law, who is no liberal, applied a conservative textualist approach to the reading of treaty law and statutes. The result: A legal theory that has been marshaled to combat abortion rights and gay marriage delivered the most significant and favorable Supreme Court decision for tribes in the 21st century.

Tulsa's Black Residents Grapple with the City's Racist History and Police Brutality Ahead of Trump's Rally

Donald Trump's announcement of a planned rally in Tulsa opened new and old wounds for the city's black residents.

Historian Daina Ramey Berry on "Black Wall Street" and the Tulsa Massacre

American historian Daina Ramey Berry sits down with MSNBC’s Alicia Menendez to discuss the history of Tulsa’s 'Black Wall Street', and why so many black Americans were offended by the suggestion that President Trump would hold a campaign rally in that city on Juneteenth.

Greenwood, 1921: One of the Worst Race Massacres in American History (video)

A story reported in December features Smithsonian historian John W. Franklin describing the long-overdue plans to unearth the truth and honor the dead of the Greenwood neighborhood, the "Black Wall Street" of Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

‘Almost Blasphemous,’ Says Historian: Trump Plans Political Rally in Tulsa, Site of a Race Massacre, on Juneteenth

CeLillianne Green, author and historian, argues that Trump's plan to hold a rally on the June 19th--the anniversary of emancipation in Texas--just steps from the site of one of the nation's worst episodes of white supremacist terrorism is too much to take. 

Oh, What a Beautiful Piece of American History

by Bruce Chadwick

The story of young settlers as they try to find their place in Oklahoma, America, and the world. It is a nicely told saga told within all of those memorable tunes.