Race Riots: Rosewood & Black Wall Street

The Destruction of Black Wall Street 

1. The blacks in Greenwood created entrepreneurial opportunities for themselves and enjoyed many luxuries, such as plumbing and a remarkable school system, which made the whites envious.
2. I think that Greenwood was nicknamed "Little Africa" because of its population of blacks or African Americans.
3. Greenwood was probably called the "Black Wall Street" because of the way they were succeeding with businesses and finances. They had a business center that included banks, hotels, cafes, clothiers, movie theaters, and contemporary homes.
4. The National Guard along with some white deputies arrested and detained 6,000 blacks who could only be released by having a white person vouch for them. The National Gaurd did nothing to protect the innocent blacks being attacked.

Today Show | Tulsa Race Riot 

1. The interviewees remember Greenwood as a thriving business district. If you wanted to start a business that was the place to go. Everybody was making business and everybody was making money.
2. Dick Rowland was the man accused of assaulting a white woman. The lynching of Rowland was different from the ones we have previously learned about because the blacks actually tried to stop the lynching o this man and didn't just stand around and watch.
3. The interviewees say that the whites were burning the place down and shooting everyone. They were afraid. One man said it was like a nightmare.

The Rosewood Massacre 

1. I think it took so many years to "uncover" Rosewood because people were still afraid and maybe in shock. The memories are just so horrible that many who experienced it would rather not speak upon the subject.
2. Ms. Minnie Lee remembers a big fire. They burned down everything including her grandmothers house and churches.The whites killed her aunt and grandfather. He was forced to dig his own grave even though he only had one arm.
3. The massacre was caused because whites came looking for a black man named Sylvester who supposedly raped a white woman.
4. Mr. Kirklin said the mob had about 1500 people coming in from every direction. They set houses and as people ran out, they were shot.
5. John Write was one of the few white people to live in Rosewood. He was a hero to blacks in Rosewood. He opened his home to women and children who were hiding from the mob. His house was one of few to survive this massacre. He helped many blacks escape by writing a letter to the railroad telling them to send a train because Rosewood was on fire.
6. Ms. Minnie Lee never told her family because she didn't want them to know about the struggle that she had to go through and what the white people did to them.
7. The Greenwood community responded to the massacre by keeping it secret for many years. I think that it still haunts some of the people but some have moved forward,