Imagine walking down the street; everything around is a testament to Black excellence. Black-owned businesses. Black banks. Black wealth. This was the reality of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921.
Black people were wealthy landowners and constantly getting richer.
The Greenwood neighborhood birthed Black Wall Street, a prosperous hub of commerce and family during a time of racial oppression. Over 10,000 people lived and worked in a city filled with grocery stores, hotels, banks, and more.
Our people were THRIVING - until May 31, 1921.
An armed and violent white mob, many of whom were deputized by local authorities, initiated an attack of utter destruction on the Black utopia. The community of Greenwood was set ablaze, and 35 square blocks were destroyed – all Black owned property and all Black wealth.
Estimations of the damage amount to $1.8 million, and that amounts to around $27 million today. But the destruction of Black Wall Street is one of major reasons there’s such a wealth gap between our people and white people in this country.
White supremacists were so pressed to see Black people succeed without them and IN SPITE of them that they burned an entire section of Tulsa to the ground. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Black people have risen and continue to build wealth across the country.