Black Wall Street

An excerpt from OZY -

HISTORY HANGS HEAVILY OVER TULSA’S LONE BLACK COUNCILWOMAN
By Nick Fouriezos

To engage with Vanessa Hall-Harper is to grapple with the tragic history of race relations in Tulsa. Reckoning is the only option when sitting down with the 46-year-old, who, within minutes, is digging into what was — and what could have been.

They called the city councilor’s North Tulsa district “Black Wall Street” in the early 20th century, when African-American aristocrats paraded their automobiles down roads lined with more than 200 Black-owned businesses. But on May 31, 1921, everything changed. Resentment over Black wealth erupted, with white vigilantes taking to the streets, killing at least 300 of their neighbors of color and firebombing their businesses in what would be dubbed a “race riot” by the history books — and then promptly forgotten.

http://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/history-hangs-heavily-over-tulsas-lone-black-councilwoman/82011