I can't imagine a 107 year old woman testifying before Congress, yet it happened recently.
History is forgotten for many reasons. May 31, 1921 and the days after marked an event that many of us in the United States didn't even know about until recent years, because the horrific event was never taught in our history classes.
It wasn't taught to me as a schoolchild, even though I grew up during the Civil Rights era.
But it is known now, as this news feature on CBS yesterday morning describes.
Known as the Greenwood Massacre, or the Tulsa Race Massacre, a flourishing black area of Tulsa, Oklahoma called Greenwood, or "Black Wall Street" for its concentration of black-owned prospering businesses, was destroyed by angry white mobs storming through the streets. There were even rioters flying planes overhead, dropping kerosene bombs on those trying to flee. The 100th anniversary is upon us.
It was possibly the worst racial incident in United States history. The final death toll is still in dispute but it is possible it might be upwards of 300 innocent victims plus over 1,000 houses destroyed.
And even then, the survivors weren't safe, as they were rounded up, arrested, and held in internment camps for weeks.
As with other events of this type, the massacre was covered up. But a seven year old girl witnessed the horrors of this event, and still lives with the trauma every day as sunset approaches.
I knew a 107 year old woman. I blogged about her several times. She passed away a couple of months after turning 107. Until her last couple of years, she had a sharp memory. She was a living link to history.
100 years is a long time for a woman to wait to get her chance to bear public witness to history. But, in this era of increasing hate and violence, as we struggle with change caused by the pandemic, it is necessary for us to listen and learn. This wasn't the only "race massacre" in our history, either, just possibly the worst.
Even as our country has so much to be proud of in our history, we must also consider times that were far from our proudest moments. There's a saying that history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.
Tulsa is finally confronting its past, and we can only hope some healing will come from this, and not more violence.
100 years is a long time.
