Remembering the Tulsa Race Massacre

The year: 1921.

The date: the 31st of May.

A White lynch mob gathered at

The Tulsa courthouse late that day.

 

The goal: to lynch a nineteen-year-old

Black man, who'd been accused of assault,

Perpetuating the racist idea

That Black men are guilty by default.

 

The man, Dick Rowland, had been accused

Most likely because of a misunderstanding.

Nevertheless, the angry mob--

Thirsty for blood--showed up demanding

 

To take the law into its own hands.

The news spread; the mob grew in size.

Some Blacks--among them some veterans--came

To stop the lynching. Not a surprise.

 

All of a sudden, shots were exchanged.

A few people died on the spot.

The group of Blacks retreated while

Rumors flourished and tempers grew hot.

 

The African-Americans lived

In a bustling district called Greenwood. Its fame

Was rapidly spreading; America's Black

Wall Street was its popular name.

 

Mobs rampaged through Greenwood streets,

Setting businesses on fire,

Looting homes and murdering people.

Rumors and hatred stoked their ire.

 

Firefighters, who rushed to the scene,

Were under attack and forced to flee.

For eighteen hours angry White mobs

Carried out their murder spree.

 

At least thirty-five city blocks

Lay in ruins on June 1st.

Of low points in American history,

This has to be one of the worst.

 

It's hard to know how many people

Died, for numbers were underreported.°

Historians are grappling still

With information that's been distorted.

 

Thousands of people were homeless, for over

Twelve hundred homes had been destroyed.

A once thriving, exciting district

Became a charred, horrendous void.

 

The massacre was not unique;

Others have happened here as well.

The country--though great in many respects--

It has other ghastly stories to tell.

 

Time does not erase the past.

Don’t let memories become obscure.

We must work together so such

Atrocities never reoccur.

 

-by Bob B (5-31-21)

 

°At one point, the state reported 36 deaths. Historians say the death toll was much higher, from 150 to 300 people.

Reviews

[Relic]

I remember reading about this. I'm not sure but I think it may have to do with the boy bumping into a girl on an elevator.

Tragic story and a sign of the times.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

thank you for this poem, Bob. Art can often reflect to us all the great and bad qualities of being human. We need to hear words like this so we never forget the injustice. For in order to inspire change we must know why it's prudent we do so. Thank you for sharing your poem.

[Nebula]

History has its hands full of blood
Remembering is important to never forget