Black Wall Street

Harry Streatfield, Year 13, Peel

Businesses shattered, blood shed, lives lost — all on the grounds of race. Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma, a town home to multiple successful businesses owned by African American residents in the early 20th century. The community was among the most successful and prosperous African American communities in the United States and was hence seen as a threat to the successful capitalism of White people. This resentment translated into different aspects of African American discrimination.

An example of this discrimination towards African Americans was in May 1921, when Dick Rowland, a nineteen year old African American man, was reported by the Tulsa Tribune to have allegedly raped a White woman, Sarah Page. The White community, in response to this accusation, resorted to unrivaled violence against the African Americans, in defense of what they called the “White woman virtue”. This violent revenge left thirty-five city buildings burning, resulting in the deaths of over 300 people and leaving over 800 injured.

Black Wall Street was established between 1965-1920 by O.W Gurley, an African American businessman who moved to Tulsa from Arkansas and purchased over 40 acres of land. He also established the condition for land to be sold solely to African Americans, which generated a substantial development opportunity for the African Americans who were oppressed in Mississippi. Over time, Greenwood, Tulsa, began to develop hugely, with Greenwood Avenue hosting a cluster of luxury shops, restaurants, hotels, jewellery and clothing stores as well as offices for doctors, lawyers and dentists. Most significantly, Greenwood had its own school system, post office, a savings and loan bank, hospital and bus and taxi service. Due to African American consumers not being allowed or welcomed into White businesses, a dollar spent by residents in Greenwood would circulate thirty six to a hundred times and remain in the district for almost a year before leaving. To put this into perspective, today money leaves the African American community within six hours. They realised the power of their Black dollar and reinvested it into their own community. Despite racial discrimination and Jim Crow segregation, the Greenwood district offered proof that African American entrepreneurs were capable of creating abundant wealth. The people of Greenwood achieved with self determination a level of economic success that had never existed before in the United States, less than sixty years after the end of African American slavery. Black Wall Street was a name coined to refer to the African American community and its successes, drawing parallels with New York’s prosperous and economically developed ‘Wall Street’. The income levels of the African Americans in Tulsa was raised over the minimum wage rate, as a result of increasing prosperity. Furthermore, in the entire state of Oklahoma, there were only two airports yet six planes were owned by African American business people.

On May 31, 1921, the accusation about Dick Rowland led to the appearance of both races in the Tulsa courtroom. Gunshots and other forms of violence dominated the court area; however, the African Americans were outnumbered and escaped to Greenwood as a result. The White people followed them, burning down houses and firing guns. The police force also contributed to the riots: their ineffective leadership allowed mobs to gather outside the courthouses hours before additional assistance arrived. Furthermore, they actively participated in the riots by deputizing White people without discretion, arming them with guns to multiply the police force overnight. While the violence was initiated and fueled by White people, the police disregarded due process, arresting African-Americans and interning them in detention camps; meanwhile, no White people were arrested. The racial prejudice expressed by the police department led to further riots, culminating in the destruction of Black Wall Street. The underlying causes of the May 1921 massacre can be articulated to be the increased migration of African Americans to Tulsa, increasing job opportunities, and African American prosperity.

Regardless of the progress made by prominent African Americans, American capitalism is structured to keep the White segment of society ahead of the remaining marginalized many. By the 1940s the Greenwood district was rebuilt, but due to integration in the civil rights era, it never regained the same level of prominence. The fate of Black Wall Street perfectly demonstrated that as long as power remains in the hands of the aristocracy, mainly White families, America’s socioeconomic system will continue to support and advance the principals of White supremacy.