An American Pogrom: the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

One hundred years ago, on May 31 and June 1, 1921, white mobs in Tulsa, Oklahoma attacked the city’s Black residents and businesses in one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. They killed hundreds of people and destroyed 35 square blocks in the city’s Greenwood District, also called “Black Wall Street,” which had been the wealthiest Black community in the United States.
This racist massacre on American soil was similar in many ways to the pogroms experienced by eastern European Jews, in which violent antisemitic mobs attacked Jewish people, homes, and business. But the 1921 Tulsa race massacre was a taboo topic for decades in the United States, including among some American Jews.
This groundbreaking program, co-presented with JewishGen.org, explores Tulsa and its legacy on the eve of the massacre’s centennial. Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of the PBS NewsHour, moderates the discussion featuring professor and author Dr. Hasia Diner; author, attorney, educator, and Tulsa civic leader Hannibal Johnson; and Jonathan Silvers, documentary filmmaker and founder of Saybrook Productions who is directing "Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten," a centennial exploration of the 1921 race massacre which will premiere on PBS on May 31, 2021.