MikeDunnAuthorToday in Labor History May 31, 1921: The Tulsa Race Riot. From May 31 through June 1, deputized whites (i.e., racist vigilantes) killed more than 300 African Americans in the worst race riot in U.S. history. The violence began in response to a false report in the Tulsa Tribune accusing a black man of attacking a white girl in an elevator. The headline made the front page. However, there was an accompanying editorial that called for a lynching. White Tulsans went to the African American community of Greenwood (the Black Wall Street) and started shooting black people. They looted and burned 40 square blocks, destroying over 1,400 African American homes, hospitals, schools, and churches. Ten thousand became homeless and had to spend the winter of 1921 living in tents.
Many African American residents fought back, including veterans of World War One. This attempt at self-preservation prompted the deputized whites and National Guardsmen to arrest 6,000 black residents. Furthermore, they bombarded the community from the air in what was likely the first aerial bombardment of mainland U.S. residents. At least a dozen planes, some carrying police, circled the community and dropped burning balls of turpentine. They also shot at residents from the air. Many of the whites were members of the Klan, such as W. Tate Brady, who had also participated in the tarring and feathering of members of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917.
Just a few months later, the government again bombarded civilians from the air, during the Battle of Blair Mountain, when 15,000 coal miners battled 3,000 cops, private cops and vigilantes, in the largest insurrection since the Civil War. Up to 100 miners died in the fighting, along with 10-30 Baldwin-Felts detectives and three national guards.
You can read my full article on the Battle of Blair Mountain here: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2024/04/14/the-battle-of-blair-mountain/
#workingclass #LaborHistory #tulsa #massacre #riot #racism #pogrom #IWW #police #policebrutality #massacre #greenwood #BlackWallStreet #kkk #klan #kukluxklan #blairmountain #miner #coal #union #strike #BlackMastodon
Drink of Jesus
ZEUS MINING
BG | berlinergazette.de
Daniel
Aurianne Or
STREET ART UTOPIA
securityaffairs