Description

“The story of Greenwood is not one of tragedy. The neighborhood has suffered systemic racism and tragic events, but these do not define Greenwood nor tell its complete story. Founded in Oklahoma in 1905, shortly before Oklahoma’s statehood, Greenwood became the wealthiest African-American community in the nation. A decade and a half later, in 1921, a white mob attacked Greenwood leaving it in ruins. Despite the despicable acts committed against Greenwood, now known as “The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre,” Greenwood rebuilt, even better than before, with no external aid. In fact, its residents overcame a deliberate attempt by the City of Tulsa to legally prevent them from rebuilding. In the present day, we–the Tulsa community–ask ourselves: Why does North Tulsa look the way it does? Why have its people failed to prosper and build generational wealth? Why is there a 20-year life expectancy gap between residents of North Tulsa and South Tulsa? The answer we have arrived at, since the discovery of the events surrounding the Race Massacre in May of 1921, is that North Tulsa’s neighborhoods were destroyed, and the area has simply failed to recover from that event. However, this is a false narrative; one that comes from the perspective of the white community in Tulsa. The Victory of Greenwood endeavors to tell the story of Greenwood from the perspective of the heroes and entrepreneurs who built Greenwood and then rebuilt it after its destruction. Historians have published many books and articles about the days surrounding the 1921 Race Massacre, but Tulsa knows very little about the founding of Greenwood. We as a city know even less about Greenwood’s reconstruction. Against all odds, the neighborhood was built again, better than before, and became known as “Black Wall Street”.
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