The Tragedy Of The 1920 ' S

The Tulsa race riot changed the course of American history by actively expressing African American views on white supremacy. Before the events of the Tulsa race riot African Americans saw the white community taking justice into their own hands. Black citizens of Tulsa stood up against this sort of white mob. This escaladed into the Tulsa race riot. The Tulsa race riot and its effects weighed heavily upon the African Americans of this era.

The Tulsa Riot of 1921 was a tragic racial riot that resulted in the periodic destruction of Greenwood, a neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nicknamed “Little Africa”, Greenwood was described as a vibrant community, and was built up by African Americans. This community, however, was completely destroyed by a massive mob of white men, whose anger stemmed from rape allegations of an African American man. Before and after the Tulsa Riot occurred, African Americans of the Greenwood community faced social issues due to the prevalence of racism among white men across the nation.

Have you ever said that you wanted to start a riot, and people have responded by saying that’s not funny? Well here’s why they say that. On May 31, 1921 a riot occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It all happened when Dick Rowland (an African American) was accused of raping a white woman named Sarah Page in an elevator, when Rowland had tripped and grabbed her arm by accident. A salesclerk overheard the scream and called the police. Rowland was arrested. There were angry whites that were outside the courtroom protesting for Rowland to be lynched. The violence started for some people on May 31, 1921 and went on until June 1, 1921. 1265 homes, dozens of office buildings, restaurants, churches and schools had been destroyed during this

Urban Blacks were also encounter with extreme racial violence in neighborhoods and at work. Different ethnic groups of new immigrants obtained power and used conflict as a strategy of diminishing urban Blacks power level. They began blocking Urban Black workers going to work throughout new immigrant’s neighborhoods. Race riots have played a crucial role in the social establishment of race, prejudice, and discrimination across the United States. Race riots uncovered fundamental tensions in societies experiencing swift technological and economic changes. In 1920, there were many race riots and other violence in many places, such as Red Summer Race Riots of 1919 and the St. Louis Riot of 1917 that took place during the segregation in the South and the Black urban migration to the North. These race riots were response to the reality that Urban Blacks were carrying on a powerful struggle against White supremacy. During race riots, Urban Blacks lived through a renewed flow of riots, massacres, and racial terrorism.

The Tulsa Race Riot is considered to be the most deadly and violent race riot of all time. The period of the riot was a time of prosperity in America, not only among whites, but the black population in Tulsa were also living an upper middle class life. The oil boom gave Tulsa a quick boost in the economy and people had money, lots of money. With oil in the ground and money everywhere, it’s hard to imagine that the National Guard was about to be called on its own civilians for the first time and only time in history.

During the 20th century, the people of America had to adjust to new desires, lifestyles, and the new materialistic economy. After entering World War I, the aftermath included false positives that in the end, turned out to be complete negatives. Citizens of America possessed materialistic beliefs that led to disappointments. African Americans were confronted by atrocious social conditions. The frustrations faced by many Americans living in the 1920s, included the desires for materialistic possessions in hopes of contentment, the aspirations for freedom and the dignified need for racial equality, are all elucidated in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “Winter Dreams”, and both poems, “Democracy” by Langston Hughes and “The White House” by Claude Mckay.

The twenties is said to have been a unique era. It was full of constant excitement. It was known as the “Jazz Age”. It was a period where Americans took time to find joy in their new freedoms. The twenties was an age of thrills and success where music, art, and literature flourished and social norms began to change, however this time was actually accentuated by a certain violence and chaos due to conflicting American ideals on issues such as Prohibition, race, and immigration.

The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 was the culmination of racial tensions both endemic in American society as a whole in the period, and certain tensions peculiar to Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1921, Greenwood and its African American population became the outlet for these often violent tensions seething among Tulsa’s white population. The following paper seeks to shed some further understanding on what motivated and pushed the whites of Tulsa, Oklahoma to such a violent, extreme reaction during the riot.

The Roaring Twenties started in North America and spread to Europe as the effects of World War I diminished. In Europe, the years following the First World War (1919-1923) were marked by a deep recession. Europe spent these years in rebuilding and coming to terms with the vast human cost of the conflict. Unlike in the aftermath of World War II, the United States did little to try to rebuild Europe. Instead, it took an increasingly isolationist stance (Answers, 2006).

Another brutal race riot was the Tulsa Race riot of 1921. On May 30, 1921, Dick Rowland, a 19-year old african-american shoe shiner, entered an elevator with Sarah Page, a 17-year-old white elevator operator. Rowland accidentally stepped on her foot or grabbed her to catch himself from falling. After screaming, police were called to arrest Rowland. He managed to flee but was arrested the next day. Newspaper articles and widespread rumors caused people to form a lynch mob. The court case  was held the next day on May 31, 1921. While Rowland was being tried, many white supremacists surrounded the courthouse waiting to lynch him. At around 10pm, shots were fired, which started the beginning of the riot. African-Americans, some veterans of WWI,

The “Tulsa Tribune” produced an article with alternative facts stating that Dick “Raped” the young women and was going to be lynched that night which was completely false. In fact the police stated that “No rape occurred nor did an assault.” The Tribune falsely reported a lynching also that outraged black communities. The heading of the Tribune was “Nab Negro for attacking girl in elevator” also they used the word Rape which was almost never used in articles in newspapers causing outrage in white communities prompting the crowd to form around the courthouse. Along with the city, state legislatures impacted the black and white relationship by implementing Jim crow laws, allocating money to white neighborhoods, hindering black communities and not letting them vote which over time created such a tension that it eventually imploded. The federal government hand their hands tied in the U.S. constitution states handle state issues unless the federal government takes over but Harding could not send troops in, because who was he supposed to defend? If he helped blacks he loses votes with republicans along with that he was an “undercover brotha” which is a member of congress who is part of the KKK. Lastly, the people and police who handled the situation wrong are the most blatant people to blame, the people cannot be judge, jury and cause mobs when

In the chapter of the year 1920, Morrison uses the notion of defilement during the trip down to Meridian a couple of times, using the characters Helene and Nel. The first notion of defilement was shown when Helene and Nel tried to get on the train. When they got on, they accidently got on the Whites Only section, making Helene look unintelligent, and tried to rush back to the Colored Only section. They’ve almost made it when they're approached by a white conductor, who barks at Helene, "What you think you doin' gal?" The word "gal" makes Helene's hands tremble. It's meant to make her feel small and inadequate, and it does. Helene is portrayed as a proper lady but cannot escape the reality of racism. After getting yelled at about getting on

The 1930’s was filled with many interesting and knowledgeable events that mark the United States history. Our future depends on what happens in the past. The 1930’s was a significant era for technology. There were many new inventions that we can still see that are in use today. The airplane was a huge leap for the United States, It had sparked a whole new way of doing things. Many events in our history involve planes and if it hadn’t been invented our future wouldn’t be the see as we see it.

Racism in this country has been prevalent over centuries now, and still a huge hindrance in the United States of America. Racism has a huge history with scholars documenting the long illustrious reasons and root causes as to why this has become such a major topic of issue in the United States and its psychological and social obliterations in the society.

Racism has occurred for many years and in many different societies. Some people choose to remain oblivious to it all while others choose to take a stand either for it or against it. Racism is a big