Brett Davern

Brett Davern Instagram – In 1921, Tulsa Oklahoma was a prosperous city but it’s population of more than 100,000 was also highly segregated. Most of the city’s 10,000 black residents lived in a neighborhood called Greenwood, which included a thriving business district known as the Black Wall Street.
In May, a black teenager named Dick Rowland was arrested for allegedly assaulting Sarah Page, a white elevator operator at the Drexel building on South Main Street. Later, Page declined to prosecute and Rowland was exonerated after which he immediately left Tulsa to settle in Kansas City. Little else is publicly known about the remainder of his life.
However, after Rowland’s arrest in 1921, a group of around 1,500 white men, some armed, began gathering outside the courthouse, demanding the sheriff hand over Rowland. With rumors of a lynching spreading, a group of around 75 black men, some armed, arrived at the courthouse, they were met by the waiting mob. Shots were fired and chaos broke. Overnight, in the Greenwood neighborhood, groups of white Tulsans—some deputized and given weapons by city officials—committed numerous acts of violence in addition to looting and burning more than 1,256 homes, two community newspapers, a school, library, hospital, churches, hotels, and many other black-owned businesses. A total of 36 people died. (*officially) Today’s equivalent property damage would total around 35 million dollars. The Tulsa Race Riots, or #TulsaMasacre as it’s know remains one of the worst incidents of racial violence in U.S. history. It is also one of the least-known about. Local news reports were buried, and subsequently the massacre was largely omitted from local, state, and national histories despite the fact that thousands of citizens were left homeless, injured, or dead. Stay safe #Tulsa. #BlackLivesMatter | Posted on 20/Jun/2020 21:53:24