Ninety years ago today, a black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma was burned to the ground by a mob of angry white people. Homes were looted and somewhere between 50 and 300 black people were murdered. Just in the last few decades, the unmarked graves of some of the victims have been uncovered. It was the worst race riot in United States history. It all started because a black man accidentally stepped on the foot of a white woman in an elevator (well, that is one version of the story). She screamed and he was arrested. The townspeople tried to remove him from the courthouse and lynch him. The papers sensationalized the event, said he was trying to rape her and incited the city to violence. He was later found innocent and freed, but the damage was done. Sometimes I marvel at how much things have changed and yet, have stayed the same.
http://www.tulsareparations.org/TulsaRiot.htm
http://www.tulsareparations.org/TulsaRiot.htm
