美国国家公共电台 NPR--Tulsa Race Massacre: Ramifications of what happened in 1921 can still be seen today

Tulsa Race Massacre¹: Ramifications² of what happened in 1921 can still be seen today

Transcript³

NPR's Michel Martin talks to Victor Luckerson, author of Built from the Fire, and Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin, about the lasting⁴ effects of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It was May 31, 1921. It saw the beginning of one of this country's most horrifying⁵ episodes of racist⁶ mob violence. Over the course of a few days, hundreds of Black residents were killed in what's become known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. Survivors⁷ lost their livelihoods⁸ as a white mob set fire to 35 blocks of the Greenwood District, which was known as Black Wall Street. In recent years, historians and descendants of survivors have worked hard to revive memories of this all but forgotten chapter, especially during the centennial of the massacre in 2021. But our next guests say the legacy⁹ of what happened in Tulsa can still be seen in Tulsa today. That's the subject of Victor Luckerson's new book "Built From The Fire." And he's here with us now, along with Oklahoma state Representative Regina Goodwin, a descendant. Welcome to both of you. Thank you both so much for talking to us about this.

VICTOR LUCKERSON: Thanks for having us, Michel.

REGINA GOODWIN: Thank you.

MARTIN: Mr. Luckerson, I'm going to start with you. You tell the story of Greenwood largely through the Goodwin family. Why this family?

LUCKERSON: You know, too often, the Tulsa Race Massacre is reduced to statistics, Michel - 1,256 homes destroyed, 35 square blocks burned. But this is really a story about people. You know, I know on my very first trip to Tulsa, I participated in a vigil and a march down Greenwood Avenue to commemorate¹⁰ the anniversary of the massacre. One of the folks I met was actually Regina Goodwin. She was really able to unspool for me this sort of epic¹¹ family story about how their family had been moved to Tulsa from Jim Crow Mississippi in 1914, about how her great-grandfather, J.H. Goodwin, had opened a grocery store right there on Greenwood Avenue, how that store was destroyed during the race massacre. But it was actually Regina's great-grandmother, Carlie Goodwin, who, after the massacre, went to the courthouse and sort of demanded justice, filed a lawsuit¹² seeking restitution¹³ from the city of Tulsa.

MARTIN: So Representative Goodwin, as Victor just told us, you're a descendant of J.H. and Carlie Goodwin. Do you know how your ancestors survived?

GOODWIN: Yeah, yeah. The night of the massacre, my grandfather was graduating - and my aunt, Anna - they were graduating from high school, and they were in a play that night of the massacre. And they heard that trouble was coming. They were able to leave that site and get to safety. And I know that my grandfather hid in a bathtub in the house. And also, my great-grandfather, James Henri, he was very fair complected. He looked like a white man. He stood on the porch of his own house and waved the mob away, and they thought he was a white man. So they weren't burning down white homes. They were just burning down Black folk's stuff. So that is how, I'm told, that they survived, and they would live to stay in the Greenwood area and rebuild.

MARTIN: Wow. Remarkable¹⁴. Victor, can you describe Greenwood at its height? Like, give us a sense of what it looked like.

LUCKERSON: Sure. So Greenwood was really considered the Eden of the West in the early 20th century. This was a place where there were grocery stores, restaurants and even larger enterprises. You know, one of my favorite Greenwood businesses to think about is the Dreamland Theatre. You know, we also had the Stradford Hotel, which was one of the largest Black-owned hotels in the entire United States. And the Goodwin family also owned the Jackson Goodwin Funeral Home, which had some of the fanciest funeral cars in the southwest. So you really had enterprises, both big and small, making this community thrive early in the 20th century.

MARTIN: Well, but what about today, though? I mean, part of what - you know, you're talking about, like, 35 blocks of homes and businesses burned to the ground. It's disputed how many people were actually killed because there were so few remains¹⁵. What happened in the years after the massacre?

LUCKERSON: You know, we don't know what Greenwood would have become if not for the massacre. We don't know what would have become of the Stradford Hotel, the Dreamland Theatre, The Tulsa Star. But it is a blessing¹⁶ that we had families like the Goodwins who stayed and did rebuild.

MARTIN: You make the point in your book and, Representative Goodwin, you make the point that what really kind of killed Greenwood as a business district was this expressway, this crosstown expressway that goes right through the business district. What impact has that had?

GOODWIN: Well, it is there. After the community did rebuild, then you had what white folks would refer to - some white folks would refer to as urban renewal¹⁷ - Black folks called urban removal. And all across the nation, you had expressways that cut through the heart of Black communities. Certainly, you then kill the business. So what happened is they cut right through the heart of Greenwood. We have been able to, through the Biden administration - he has a program called the Reconnecting Communities Program. And he simply said, in print, that he was looking for communities where interstates or highways had cut through Black communities. And when I saw that in print, I knew we were - had an administration that at least wanted to look at addressing the harm that was done in the past.

MARTIN: So, Victor, what was the ostensible¹⁸ argument for this urban renewal strategy?

LUCKERSON: Blight¹⁹ was a term used by federal, state and local officials to, in some ways, demonize properties in Black communities. If a property was deemed blighted²⁰, that meant the city, the state or the federal government had the right to remove it, destroy it. And, you know, families really couldn't do very much about that. In the Greenwood case, it's kind of a tragedy because, in the early era of urban renewal, there was so much positivity framed around it. There was the idea that the community might end up being rebuilt even bigger and better.

But this federal funding for the rebuilding actually sort of collapsed²¹ when the Nixon administration came into power. And so Greenwood ended up having acres and acres of empty land that was kept in control by urban renewal authorities and remains so to this day. Even to today, in Tulsa, the Urban Renewal Authority owns hundreds of acres of land in Greenwood and north Tulsa that hasn't been put to any use for decades.

MARTIN: Representative Goodwin, can I just ask you, what's your dream? What would you hope for for Greenwood?

GOODWIN: Long story short is that we do see that, were we to remove that expressway, with the Community Land Trust, there could be control for the historic residents - right? - so that we could stem the gentrification that occurs. Look, I am a realist. I understand that blocks now have been taken. There's a big baseball field there. There's a big university right there in the heart of Greenwood. So I understand that's not moving. What I am saying is that we can stem the gentrification. Ultimately, what I would like to see is the historic residents, particularly Black folks, owning and living again in that Greenwood district, having more rooftops, having more small businesses. That is the dream.

MARTIN: That's Oklahoma state Representative Regina Goodwin. In addition to serving in the Statehouse, she's a descendant of survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre. We're also joined by Victor Luckerson. He's the author of the new book "Built From The Fire," and it is out now. Victor Luckerson, Oklahoma state Representative Regina Goodwin, thank you both so much for talking to us.

LUCKERSON: Thank you, Michel.

GOODWIN: Thank you.

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1 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

2 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

5 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

6 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

9 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

10 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

11 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

12 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

13 restitution   

n.赔偿；恢复原状

参考例句：

• It's only fair that those who do the damage should make restitution.损坏东西的人应负责赔偿，这是再公平不过的了。
• The victims are demanding full restitution.受害人要求全额赔偿。

14 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

17 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

18 ostensible   

adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的

参考例句：

• The ostensible reason wasn't the real reason.表面上的理由并不是真正的理由。
• He resigned secretaryship on the ostensible ground of health.他借口身体不好，辞去书记的职务。

19 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

20 blighted   

adj.枯萎的，摧毁的

参考例句：

• Blighted stems often canker.有病的茎往往溃烂。
• She threw away a blighted rose.她把枯萎的玫瑰花扔掉了。

21 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。