How One Night Killed America’s Wealthiest Black City: Tulsa, OklahomaBefore the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre leveled thirty-five blocks in eighteen hours, the Greenwood District was the wealthiest Black community in America. Its main street held hotels, theaters, law firms, newspapers, and a hospital — all Black-owned, all built from scratch in the shadow of Oklahoma’s oil boom.This is the story of how Greenwood rose from a forty-acre land purchase into a self-sustaining commercial district that rivaled any in the country, and how one night of coordinated violence, followed by decades of insurance denial, rezoning schemes, and interstate highway construction, ensured it would never fully return.Sources: “A Walk Along Black Wall Street,” American Experience, PBS (pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience) “The Past, Present and Future of Black Wall Street,” Oklahoma Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, May 2021 “Greenwood District” and “Tulsa Race Massacre,” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society “The 1921 Tulsa Massacre,” National Endowment for the Humanities (neh.gov) “Justice Department Announces Results of Review and Evaluation of the Tulsa Race Massacre,” U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, January 2025 “Interstate 244: ‘It Took the Heart Out of Greenwood,’” Tulsa World, 2021.The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921On the night of May 31st-June 1st in 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, thousands of whites, many deputized by the local police, swarmed through the Greenwood section of North Tulsa, killing scores of blacks, looting, and ultimately burning the neighborhood to the ground. During the 16 hours of the assault, more than 800 people were admitted to local white hospitals with injuries (the two black hospitals were burned down), and police arrested and detained more than 6,000 black Greenwood residents at three detention facilities. An estimated 10,000 blacks were left homeless, and 35 city blocks destroyed.Historian Estimates: Due to uncounted victims, unmarked graves, and bodies hidden or disposed of during and after the violence, historians and researchers estimate the real total ranging from 50 to as many as 300 deaths, predominantly among Black residents of the Greenwood District. I will never forget the wonderful personal advice on being a quality and effective teacher and educator the wonderful John Hope Franklin gave me when I was starting out my 28-year career teaching high school students when we talked together in Tulsa.The post How One Night Killed America’s Wealthiest Black City: Tulsa, Oklahom appeared first on LewRockwell.