Black Tulsa is a neighborhood called Greenwood t
in 2021 is to be reminded of what happened in 19
"Tulsa was the site of what's arguably the worst act o
domestic terrorism based on race and American history."
A century ago, over a few hours, white mobs looted
homes, burned businesses and left a thriving black
community destroyed. It's known as the Tulsa Race
Massacre. Most who know of Greenwood know of that
moment. What's less known is the century of history
since. "And the story it tells of both Tulsa and America
people are attracted to the shiny object. The shiny
object here is the massacre itself, but the master is
not the story. The ultimate story here is the story of
the indomitable human spirit." After Greenwood burned
most residents didn't run. They helped one of the
wealthiest black communities in America rebuild.
"There's footage just three years after the massacre,
Many people mistake this footage from being from Before
the massacre. You just see this thriving, lively
neighborhood again." What's les visible is a backdrop
of outside oppression. "You have insurance companies who
are refusing to pay insurance claims. You have the city
criminally charging 54 black men for inciting a riot.
So you have a city that's doing everything it can
stop this neighborhood from being rebuilt." And yet they
succeed in spite of all that Greenwood survived a
physical massacre." It rebuilt through segregation and
bureaucratic injustice. It last decades as Black Wall
Street until a second destruction this time. All lega
federal funds enabled the city to use eminent domain to
clear out Greenwood an interstate was erected through
its heart. "You have an almost total destruction of
green would not through, you know, guns and bombs, but
through federal policy and highways." By no means is
Tulsa alone. The 1921 massacre has gained attention,
but acts of mass racial violence took place at that
time from little rock to Baltimore. The federal act
that put a highway through Greenwood did the same to
black communities in Montgomery Kansas city in
Nashville. "Just another trauma. Reconnecting the
community Is really difficult i light of that sort of
huge monstrosity because once it's gone, it's gone." Now
it's 2021 and a new narrative has emerged. A narrat
of greenwood rising yet again a narrative of a
neighborhood honoring its history and building toward
the future. But once again, it's not merely so simple.
"Welcome back to the gallery." Queen Alexander is a
descendant of massacre survivors. She runs the
Greenwood gallery across from a new museum
Commemorating the massacre. She is surrounded by new
construction and gentrification now, no one black
owns these buildings. Whoever has the power they're
choosing what they want. Therefore they're not
necessarily thinking about the neighborhood and the
history. I'm a Black business owner on Greenwood." But I
don't even have a parking spot today. Black Wall Street
borders a minor league baseball field. Black Tulsa is
no longer confined to one neighborhood and the black
identity of Greenwood still exists largely within white
confines. "In Oklahoma and in other states, legislation
is being passed and has been passed even as we speak.
That really challenges the idea that we should teach
about systemic structural institutional racism in
schools. But if we don't deal with our heart, history,
our history is gonna continue to be hard." "It's like
progress with crutches are shackles on it. You know
what I mean It's like it's not, it's a an illusion. It
really is an illusion. So yeah, it's easy to view 1921
as far removed from the modern day." But the components
that fueled a massacre have hovered over Greenwood eve
since. It's the grit of black Tulsa against a tide of
crashing waves. "The problem of race in America is an
age old problem, but it certainly will never be solved
unless we confront it directly and acknowledge it."
Tulsa is not unlike many communities in America tha
have experienced historical racial trauma. "The question
for communities across the nati is, how do we heal." In
Tulsa I'm Matt Pearl.