Tulsa following 1921 massacre
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the
brutal massacre carried out in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921. People across
the U.S. commemorated the massacre, decried the racist legacy which the United States continues
to enforce, and saluted the spirit and determination of the African
Americans who built and rebuilt Greenwood. U.S.
President Biden made a point of visiting Tulsa to spread deliberate
disinformation according to which "mobs" of "white supremacists" was
responsible for the massacre. The claim is that
the "hate" of these "mobs" were responsible, not the federal government,
not police and government forces which, like the Tulsa mayor, were
always part of or protection for government-organized racist and terrorist gangs such as the KKK. It was the
government at all levels, backed by the military and a state-organized
force specifically targeting the African American
community of Greenwood that was responsible.
In 1921, Tulsa,
Oklahoma like many U.S. cities was segregated by law. Greenwood, the
African American community, was thriving at the time. The attack was no
accident. It was in
part a land-grab by the mayor and city officials and also a means to
suppress the growing success and independence of Greenwood and provide
an example to all those striving for equality
and opposing government racism.
The government was directly involved, not only through the
imposition of racist segregation laws, or because it backed a mayor who
was a member of the KKK, but because police
forces were involved, including by deputizing and arming their
organized force of white men. Machine guns and planes were used to bomb
the area. A review of the photos shows brick
buildings were turned into rubble, confirming that the level of
destruction could not have been accomplished by fires alone. National
Guard troops were called in by the Governor.
The land grab is evident in the fact that the very day following
the massacre, Tulsa passed zoning laws to prevent Greenwood from being
re-built. Governments at all levels acted to
ensure the crimes were covered up and the African American community
was blamed. The crimes include mass graves only now being discovered,
27 so far, along with mass injuries and
homelessness for thousands and brutal violence against the entire
community.
Tulsa was not an isolated incident. It follows the major rebellions
that occurred in African American communities across the country in
1919, also violently suppressed by the government. African American
troops were returning home from World War I and were angered by the
organized racism and discrimination they faced, including from laws
enforcing unequal schools, housing and more. Indeed dozens of African
American soldiers in Tulsa rallied and armed themselves to support and
defend Greenwood, including from a planned lynching.
Tulsa also takes place in the context of the Russian Revolution of 1917
that influenced people worldwide as the new government recognized the
human rights of all and affirmed every
person was legitimate and there would be no second class citizens.
Organizing was occurring among workers that united Black and white, all
of which frightened the rulers, bringing forth
brutal repression, use of KKK terror and more. This is the context for
the massacre.
When President Biden visited the site on the 100th anniversary, an
evident aim of his visit was to cover up the role of the U.S.
government of the day and since then in committing such crimes. He even
claimed "private planes" were used despite the fact that many survivors
have affirmed that the military was involved with various law
enforcement on board, firing at people in the streets who were trying
to protect themselves and their children from the many fires.
Biden mentions that there were governors and Congressional
representatives at the time who were members of the KKK, but does not
hold government then and now accountable. He
describes some of the events, including government use of "red-lining"
and "eminent domain" to target and destroy Greenwood a second time,
after the massacre, after people joined
together to rebuild it. But still, he holds to the mantra that the
United States is the greatest defender of human rights as if all the
crimes it commits are just aberrations which do not really
count.
"Redlining" was codified racism that shaped cities in the U.S. and
continues to do so today. Maps from nearly a century ago created by the
federal government's Home Owners' Loan
Corporation (HOLC), are based on deeming immigrant populations
"hazardous." The presence of Black people was a "detrimental influence"
or an "infiltration." Stark red lines on the maps
outlined neighbourhoods made up of people of colour, hence the term
red-lining. Green lines mark the "safe" areas of mostly white families.
In the 1930s, these "residential security" maps served as guidelines
for real estate professionals and loan officers. The maps categorized
regions across the country that supposedly
deserved investment and others that were considered too "risky" for
mortgage lenders. The "risk" was based solely on the racial makeup of a
community.
The maps were codified racism. Though eventually made illegal,
red-lining continues in various forms. For example, a study released in
2018 found that 64 per cent of the
neighbourhoods graded "hazardous" by HOLC remain segregated minority
neighbourhoods, most commonly African American. Seventy-four per cent of
neighbourhoods branded "hazardous"
also remain low-to-moderate income neighbourhoods. A 2017 study found
that areas classified as high-risk on HOLC maps became increasingly
segregated during the next 30-35 years, and
suffered long-run declines in home ownership and house values. The
federal government and financial agencies it runs have long been and
remain responsible for imposing and maintaining
segregation.
The blatantly racist practice has barred Black Americans and
targeted communities for generations, ensuring unequal schools while
blocking access to capital, government financing for
home ownership and all the basic tenets for what is called
wealth-building. Created under the New Deal, the HOLC program was meant
to ease the effects of the Great Depression. Yet,
these policies destined red-lined regions for disinvestment and
concentrated poverty.
Redlining was followed by other detrimental efforts such as "urban
renewal," which cleared neighbourhoods to construct housing projects
and highways, in turn displacing communities
of colour, once again changing the urban geographical landscape. To
this day minorities are constantly forced out of areas considered
"prime real estate," or people are restricted to
segregated neighbourhoods.
The role President Biden is playing is to either defend the crimes
the U.S. is committing or make no mention of them or of reparations.
This is because the crimes continue today and
everything is done to divert attention away from the demand for
accountability. Biden does not address continuing government structures
of inequality that not only maintain inequality but
make sure social and political problems are exacerbated manifold. Proof
of this is seen in the racist police killings, lack of treatment for COVID-19 and lack of health care more generally, and job
and housing discrimination. Biden does not address the lack of any
mechanism for the people to hold the government accountable. Addressing
that problem is in the forefront of many
current battles for justice.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 18 - July 4, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/MS51185.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
