Would you believe me if I told you that once upon of time, there was an all black town in Tulsa, Oklahoma that had over 600 businesses and even their own school system?You probably don't want to believe me, but it's true. Unfortunately in 1921, the Greenwood district of Black Wall Street was home of the most deadliest terrorist attack in the form of a race riot. There are many stories concerning the cause of this riot, one being that white citizens in the next town over were jealous of the prominent all-black town, and couldn't handle people of color being wealthier and more successful than whites. After all, the men and women of Black Wall Street were children of freed slaves, and at the time it was preposterous and unheard of blacks owning land and successful businesses. The riot even included a bombing of the whole entire town, with a majority of it's inhabitants dead, and the rest homeless and/or ran from Tulsa. Of course, this piece of history has mostly been omitted from history books, state records, and even people's memories.
It's funny how America complains about outside terrorist attacks, when America has been terrorizing blacks since the beginning of time with slavery, lynchings, and even BOMBINGS of all-black towns. I question what exactly does a terrorist look like, but that's another story, and not the purpose of this post.
CAN THERE EVER BE ANOTHER BLACK WALL STREET?
I believe there were many variations of Black Wall Street, but not as majestic and as successful as the one in Tulsa. In a perfect world, it should be easy to recreate another successful all black infrastructure, but nobody likes segregation. Desegregation has helped us in some ways, but from an economic standpoint, it has hurt the black community as well. It's not that blacks don't have the money to become lucrative business owners again (blacks are reported to spend 1.1 trillion dollars
annually) nor is it because blacks are "too stupid" to unite once again. It is simply because most of us are not programmed to "buy black" For example, beauty supply stores, who are they owned by? Not blacks. Laundromats, who are they owned by? Not blacks. The little corner stores, who owns them? Not blacks.
As long as integration exists, and multi-ethnicity in an area is popular, there will unfortunately never be another Black Wall Street. To be honest, if another Black Wall Street ever existed, I would NOT be surprised if it got bombed again. America has never been a place for blacks to prosper in peace.
But, what a grand time it would have been to live in the heyday of Black Wall Street, wouldn't it? So much prosperity, and so much positivity. It really makes me sad to say after 92 years after the riot, to say RIP to it...
For more information on Black Wall Street/The 1921 Tulsa Race Riots here are some links:
Now I'd like to know what you guys think!
Can there ever be another "Black Wall Street"?
If it was, would you support it?
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