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Suppression of the knowledge of the massacre was of particular interest by oil companies and civic and business leaders as Tulsa,
Oklahoma touted itself as one of the "richest cities in the country and the oil capital of the world". After the massacre, it was
big business as usual, as though the event never occurred. The underlying threat of physical violence toward the black residents
of Greenwood kept many of them quiet for many years, as many feared of a repeat event. This was complicated by the fact that none
of the white residents that participated in the massacre were ever charged with a crime, and that many of the atrocities were committed
by city and state officials. These officials, as well as other white people in positions of power, were also responsible for covering up
the event to protect the economic prosperity of Tulsa, as this type of event was perceived as an embarrassment that could hurt the flow of
revenue into the city and state. Not surprisingly, this is why this piece of U.S. history is not taught in Oklahoma schools.
But this can change in the future. The accounting of what happened in Greenwood in May of 1921, is slowly starting to seep out into U.S.
society, due to the work of independent journalists, documentary film makers, and enlightened public officials that have set out to bring
light to the horrific event. Moreover, Critical Communication Pedagogy can play a further role in this disclosure of U.S. history at the
collegiate level, until this topic eventually becomes part of the normalized curriculum of U.S. history that is taught in public schools.
This website in itself is a form of Critical Communication Pedagogy, as it aims to reveal a censored part of U.S. history that shows how
the black community of Greenwood survived a massacre, rebuilt it to better than new condition, only to ultimately watch it decay into
poverty while struggling for survival under systems of racial discrimination and oppression. |
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Sources
| [1] Brown, D. (2021, February 04). Red Summer: When Racist Mobs Ruled. How a Pandemic of Racial Terror Led to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. American Experience. PBS. |
| https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/t-town-red-summer-racist-mobs/ |
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| [2] Burch, R., Reid, R., & Ferguson, K. (Producers). (2021). Tulsa Race Massacre: 100 Years Later [Video]. PBS. |
| https://www.pbs.org/video/tulsa-race-massacre-100-years-later-vdv9tx |
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| [3] Silvers, J., Brown, D., & Stover, E. (Producers). (2021). Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten [Video]. PBS. |
| https://www.pbs.org/video/episode-1-zew2v8 |
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| [4] PBS News. (2024, June 12). Oklahoma’s Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit from Last 2 Survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre Seeking Reparations. |
| https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/oklahomas-supreme-court-dismisses-lawsuit-from-last-2-survivors-of-tulsa-race-massacre-seeking-reparations |
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