On the recordMay 17, 2021
I thank Mr. Johnson for his deep insight and kind words earlier. Some background on Tulsa, Oklahoma: The district of Greenwood in its time was famously described by Booker T. Washington as ``Black Wall Street.'' It was so named because it was the most vibrant and affluent African-American community in the United States. It was an oasis of opportunity in a desert of du jour discrimination. For many African Americans in search of a better life, it was a promised land amid the broken promise of Reconstruction. It was home to 10,000 residents. There were 30 vibrant restaurants, 45 vibrant grocers and meat markets. There was a 54-room hotel. There was a theater and a hospital. Black Wall Street was a self-contained, self-sufficient community of Black wealth, a community of Black entrepreneurship and Black ownership. And Black Wall Street, at the hands of racial terrorism, at the hands of racial violence, the wealthiest Black community in the United States became a scene of mass murder, looting, and arson. It became a scene of death, destruction, and displacement. Nothing was spared in the Tulsa Race Massacre. Churches, schools, and hospitals were burned down. Twelve thousand homes were burned down. Thirty-five blocks burned down. The Tulsa burning had a death toll of 300 and a displacement toll of 10,000. Ten thousand people lost their homes, their businesses, and their livelihoods. And 6,000 of those people were relegated to internment camps.…
