BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : TULSA RACE RIOT THAT TERRORIZES BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD :

On May 31st 1921 a terrifying and shameful incident in American history began a race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma during which a white mob destroyed the Greenwood district of Tulsa a prosperous African American neighborhood. The death toll from the riot is officially 39, Blacks and 13 and 26 whites - but the real number of deaths will probably never be known. What is known that during 16hrs of terror more than 1200 residences were burned down and around 10,000 people left homeless. The white attackers on the ground used firearms while six airplanes circled overhead dropping incendiary bombs on black homes and shops. shooting down frightened residents when they tried to flee the flames.

The Tulsa Race Riots is a horrifying example of how racial hatred can flare into indiscriminate killing and wholesale destruction. It is also an example of a local news paper making the news rather than reporting it. The spark that caused this madness remain shrouded in mystery On May 30th 1921 Dick Rowland a 9 year Black shoe shine boy entered the elevator in down town Tulsa and encountered Sarah Page a 17 year white girl who operated the elevator. The girl screamed and a nearby store clerk called the authorities. Rowland ran to his mothers home in Greenwood district  where he was arrested the next day. The local News Paper The Tulsa Tribune then wrote " Nab Negro for attacking girl in an Elevator " The accompanying editorial was titled " To Lynch Negro Tonight ". .