How Tulsa Massacre Not Learned for Nearly 100 Years

June 1 marks the 100th anniversary of the destruction of "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

But that day — with hundreds of Blacks killed, and houses and businesses burned to the ground — did not become part of the American story.

Instead, it was ignored, unlearned and untaught until many years later. Even this year, the Tulsa massacre¹ is still unknown to many Americans.

The massacre in Tulsa began when white anger built over a Black man accused of stepping on a white girl's foot. Blacks came with guns to the jail in Tulsa where the man was held to prevent his killing². White people answered with deadly force. For the next two days, on May 31 and June 1, mobs of white people terrorized and burned the Black neighborhood of Greenwood. The attackers killed up to 300 Black people and forced survivors³ into internment⁴ camps.

Understanding society

Joshua Guild⁵ is a professor of history and African American studies at Princeton University. He and other historians say racist⁶ attacks like Tulsa are very important in understanding the United States today. When an event like that is lost to memory, American society cannot be truly understood.

It is "sort of a lie that we tell ourselves collectively about who we are as a society," he said. "If we don't understand the nature of the harm ... we can't really have a full reckoning."

Manisha Sinha, a professor of American history at the University of Connecticut, agreed.

"It's really important for Americans to learn from the past, because you really cannot even understand some of our current-day political divisions and ideas," without knowing the country's full history, she said.

Some terrible events that many Americans do not remember were from long ago. For example, the 1887 Snake River attack in Oregon where 34 Chinese gold miners were killed. Or the Sand Creek⁷ massacre in 1864, where U.S. soldiers in Colorado killed around 230 Native American people.

But other forgotten events were within the lifetimes of Americans living today. In 1985, a bombing by the Philadelphia police killed 11 people. The police were targeting the Black organization MOVE.

Robin⁸ Wagner-Pacifici is a professor at the New School for Social Research, who has written about the MOVE bombing. She said that just because an event is important or impacted a large number of people does not mean it will be remembered.

Remembering the Tulsa massacre

In Oklahoma, the massacre mostly was not discussed until a committee was formed in 1997 to investigate the violence. For years, the state's public schools called it the Tulsa race riot. Students are now asked to consider the differences between calling it a "massacre" or a "riot."

How an event is presented can make a difference, Wagner-Pacifici said. That could include whether it is connected to other historical events and whether or not parts of the story are given importance.

In Tulsa, news of the violence that started on May 31, 1921 did make it to the papers. Front-page stories from The Associated Press spoke⁹ of a "race clash" and "armed conflict." But the stories of the aftermath — of a community destroyed— went mostly untold¹⁰. Weeks later, The New York Times reported that a jury in Oklahoma had determined¹¹ the violence was the fault of the armed Black people. It was off the front page and not major news.

"All sorts of political forces and actors will kind of move in, to try to name it and claim it, in order either to tamp¹² it down in its impact or to elaborate it in its impact," Wagner-Pacifici said.

She pointed¹³ to a current example: the deadly Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. Some Republican lawmakers have blocked the Democratic-led attempt to investigate the attack.

A presidential visit

President Joe Biden visited Tulsa on Tuesday to honor the victims of the massacre. As the first president to do so, his visit will bring even more attention to the massacre.

Biden also met privately¹⁴ with survivors of the massacre. And his administration presented several new policies aiming to narrow the wealth gap between Black and White Americans.

Eddie Glaude is with the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University. He said Biden's visit "is so important because we have to recognize what we have done ..." It "has to be more than symbolic¹⁵. To tell the truth is the precondition for reconciliation¹⁶" and repair, he said.

Words in This Story

massacre — n. the violent killing of many people

internment— n the act of putting someone in a prison for political reasons or during a war

reckoning — n. the time when your actions are judged as good or bad and you are rewarded or punished

tamp — v. to press (something) down by hitting it lightly

elaborate — v. to give more details about something : to discuss something more fully¹⁷

precondition — n. something that must exist or happen before something else can exist or happen

reconciliation — n. the act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or disagreement

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 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 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

4 internment   

n.拘留

参考例句：

• Certainly the recent attacks against the internment camps are evidence enough. 很明显，最近营地遭受到的攻击就是一个足好的证明。 来自互联网
• The chapters on the internment are Both readaBle and well researched. 这些关于拘留的章节不仅具可读性而且研究得很透彻。 来自互联网

5 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

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 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

8 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

12 tamp   

v.捣实，砸实

参考例句：

• Then I tamp down the soil with the back of a rake.然后我用耙子的背将土壤拍实。
• Philpott tamped a wad of tobacco into his pipe.菲尔波特往烟斗里塞了一卷碎烟叶。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

14 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

15 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

16 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

17 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。