hi how are you today did you miss me i know you did
i know you did
hi how are you today
my name is bailey sarian and today is monday
which means it’s murder mystery on makeup monday
if you are new here
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every monday i sit down
i talk about a true crime story
that’s been heavy on my noggin
and i do my makeup
at the same time
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today we are dabbling in some american history
whoo as uncomfortable as american history can be
it’s still important that we talk about it right
i’m sure we can all agree on that
at least i hope
because there is something always to be learned from it
so we are going to oklahoma
that’s right baby
oklahoma oklahoma
oklahoma in 1921
oklahoma had a racially
socially and politically tense atmosphere
the first world war had ended in 1918
with the return of many ex servicemen coming back home
civil rights was still lacking for many people
and the ku klux klan was on the rise
the ku klutz clan
i should have looked up
like when they started
but i think it was around this time
but they were on the rise
and they were becoming more and more popular
and more well known
unfortunately
tulsa oklahoma was a booming oil city
which supported a large number of affluent
educated and professional african americans
this caused tensions in the city
and a combination of factors played apart
in all of this
really it was mainly like just racial tensions
oklahoma was admitted as a state in november of 1907
the newly created state legislator passed jim crow laws
which were state and local laws
that enforced racial segregation
the 1907 oklahoma constitution
did not call for strict segregation
but still the very first law passed
segregated all rail travel and voter registration rules
which effectively disenfranchised
most of the black community
so that meant that they were also not allowed to
serve on juries or in local office
now these laws were in place
until the passing of the federal voting
rights act of 1965
which was 60 years
after this event that we’re talking about today
on august 14th 1960
tulsa had passed a law
that mandated residential segregation
by forbidding
blacks or whites from residing on any block
where three fourths or more of the residents
were of the other race
now the united states supreme court
declared that this was unconstitutional
the following year
tulsa and many other southern cities
continued to establish and enforce segregation
for the next three decades
they didn’t give a shit
they were playing by their own rules
since 1915 the ku klux klan
had been growing in urban chapters across the country
by the end of 1921
tulsa had about 3200 residents in the clan
by one estimate
and the city’s population was 72 000 in 1920
there’s a lot of people in the ku klux klan
is what i’m saying
so greenwood was a district in tulsa
organized in 1906
greenwood became so successful
that it was known as
the black wall street
so the black community had created their own businesses
and services
in this area
and several grocery stores
two movie theaters
they had night clubs
they had restaurants
numerous churches
and even their own newspaper
oh yes they had black professionals
including dentists
doctors lawyers
all lived and worked in this area as well
now because the black community was not welcome
in other towns
city or cities
or even to live on
like the same block of white people
so instead they decided hey
let’s start our own successful town
let’s do it ourselves
and that’s what they did
so greenwood residents
selected their own leaders
and raised capital there
to support economic growth
i mean they took it into their own hands
they’re like look
the white men are not gonna allow us to be successful
in their neighborhoods
or be successful
contributing members of society
in their neighborhoods
so let’s just take it into our own hands
which they did
they built their own town
their own neighborhood
that was very successful
and of course
this caught attention
from the white community
fed into the racism
that was going on
because how dare they
start their own
successful neighborhood
and how dare they be more successful than us
they didn’t like that
on may 30th 1921
a young black teenager named dick roland
who worked as a shoes shiner
employed at the main street shine parlor
he had entered an elevator at the drexel building
which was an office building on south main street
it’s believed that roland may have been
trying to get to the only restroom in the building
but it’s unsure
he goes into the building
and he goes to the elevator
now the woman operating the elevator
was a white woman named sarah page
and dick roland had entered the elevator
and what happened on the elevator is unknown exactly
but what we do know is that at some point
while the two were on the elevator
sarah page had screamed
and dick roland was seen running out of the elevator
the guy who was working the front desk in the building
he ran over to the elevator
and he saw sarah
and what he said was a distraught state
and he called the police
the police came out and most likely questioned sarah
but there was no written account anywhere of her
statement that has been found
they must have been like oh
i’ll just remember it with my mind
or they burned it
we don’t know
most believed that
the police had determined what happened between the two
and then authorities conducted
like a low key investigation of their own
without doing the proper paperwork
now unfortunately
people were talking
rumors were swirling
not even long after the incident took place
about what supposedly happened on that elevator
it had circulated through the city’s white community
a front page story
in the tulsa tribune
reported that police had arrested roland
for sexually assaulting page
this is what they put on the front page
of their newspaper
that roland had sexually assaulted
page mind you
this didn’t happen
i know it’s a spoiler
but he didn’t sexually assault her
they were just being shitty people
okay but they ran it
oh baby they ran that story
front page front page
you don’t think
that’s gonna get people a little riled up
of course it is
it’s 1921 they’re just waiting for an excuse to rage
the white people that is
this newspaper gets out there
and roland had a good reason to be scared
because at this time
an accusation alone
could put him at risk
for an attack
by angry mobs
of white people
knew his life was gonna is now in danger
so roland now fearing his life
for good reason
roland decided to stay with him
mother who lived in the greenwood neighborhood
so he went there
to try and hide out
until hopefully
things calmed down
on the morning after the incident
roland was located and arrested
and taken to the tulsa city jail
then was transferred
due to the jail
receiving threatening phone calls from people
saying that they were going to kill roland
and to just hand him over
because they were going to take care of him
they meaning the angry
white people
so as nighttime approached
an angry white mob was gathering outside the courthouse
where roland was at
and they were demanding that the sheriff
hand over roland
the sheriff
willard mccullough
he refused to hand over roland
and his officers barricaded the top floor
to protect protect him as well
they shut down the building’s elevators
and had the remaining men
barricade themselves at the top of the stairs
with orders to shoot any intruders
site pretty much
if they came up
and were trying to get through
the sheriff
though decided
i’m just gonna go outside
and try and like
talk to the angry people
and grew white people
try to calm them down
so he goes out there
tries to calm them down
and send them home
but he had no luck
they were not going anywhere
they were not going
unless he handed over roland
the angry mob wanted roland lynched
and were protesting
to lynch roland
now a few blocks away
members of the community gathered
and discussed
what was going on
what happened to roland
why was everyone angry
like what are we gonna do
to calm this down
and make sure that roland is okay
they were trying their best
to come up with a plan to
prevent the
crowd from lynching roland
because let’s be real
it was probably going to happen
if they allowed it
at around 9 pm
a group of about 25
armed black men
including some
world war i veterans
they went to the courthouse
to offer help
guarding roland
from the growing mob
now the reason
it said why
they went down there
in the first place
naturally you know
people wanted to think like well
they were trying to
start something
by going down there
and they shouldn’t have done that
but the reason
they said that
they went down there
in the first place
was because
the main sheriff
sheriff macola
he personally told them
that their presence was required
at the courthouse
so 25 of them
they go out there
and the sheriff
turns them away
saying they were not needed
but 10 witnesses
said that they were just following the order
from the sheriff
in the first place
that personally
asked for them
to be there
the sheriff went out
made like a public
statement saying
i never asked for them
he’s publicly
denying that
he gave any
orders for them
to be there
so a little frustrated
but they were just trying to follow the rules
now if seeing the armed
black community show up
many of the white mob
try to unsuccessfully
break into the
national guard
armory nearby
they were trying to break in
steal guns and also
get more ammunition
so rumors are
still circling
around that
there’s going to be
a possible lynching
obviously people
from the greenwood
we’re getting nervous about this
it’s probably
going to happen
it’s going to happen
unless they
stand their ground
75 members of the
greenwood community
they had returned to the
courthouse armed
and they showed up there
around 10 pm
they just were there
to make sure that
nothing happened
to roland like
it was simple as
that you know
unfortunately
though there was
only 75 of them
when they got to the
court house
they see that
there were over 1500
angry white people
1500 versus
75 scary now
according to witnesses
a white man
is alleged to have
told one of the
armed black men
to surrender his pistol
of course it was
probably more
aggressive than that
but pretty much
telling him
to give me your gun
or whatever
you know but
the man refused
and a shot was fired
now some say that
it may have
been accidental
or it was meant
to be a warning
but because of
this one shot
it turned into
many firing
their weapons
at one another
so after shots were fired
pretty much
chaos broke out
mm hmm one gunshot
pretty much
started everybody
getting out of control
so those who came from
greenwood they ran
they pretty much
retreated on foot
back to greenwood
summon vehicles
i’m sorry but
they pretty much
went back to greenwood
the armed white mob
instead of just
leaving them alone
they decided to
follow them
back into greenwood
so a lot of the angry
white mobsters
they stopped to loot
local stores
for additional weapons
and ammunition
along the way
any bystanders
who they saw
like leaving a
movie theater
maybe like the show
had just ended
they’re walking out
someone leaving
a restaurant
or whatever
the angry white people
they shot them
they were just
shooting anybody
that they saw
who was black
so panic had set in
because the
angry white mob
they began firing
on any black people
that they saw
turning quickly
into an angry
white riot at
around 11 pm
members of the national
guard unit began
to assemble
at the armory
to organize
a plan to subdue
the rioters
several groups
were deployed downtown
to set up guard
at the courthouse
also at the
police station
and other public facilities
the forces appeared
to have been deployed
to protect the
white districts
which were adjacent
to the greenwood
and not there
to protect greenwood itself
or the community
aka the black
community at all
it was there
to protect the angry
white people
as the evening continued
the national
guard rounded
up numerous
black people
and took them to the
convention hall
on brady street
for detention
why they were
being arrested
and detained
well to simply put it
they were being arrested
because they were black
didn’t have gun
there were many people
arrested to change
and taken in
who were not armed
who were just
fucking minding
their own damn business
and that’s a
fact i mean
that’s not even
up for debate
some people
try to debate it
but i don’t know why
so many prominent
white tolsons
also participated
in the riot
including tulsa founder
and ku klux
klan member
w tate brady
who participated
in the riot
as a night watchman
he showed up
like oh i’m
gonna help with
this shit so
june 1st 1921
throughout the
early morning
small groups of
whites made
it into green
wood by car
some on foot
but mainly on car
and was just
shooting with no
rhyme or reason
into businesses
and residents
and they would throw
lighted oil rags
into several
buildings along
the streets
setting whatever
was in their
in their path
on fire then
crews from the
tulsa fire department
came to town
you know they
arrived right
to put out the fires
as firemen do
so they showed up
and they were there
to put out the fires
but the firefighters
were turned away
at gunpoint
by the angry white mob
they would not
allow them to
enter into the town
and put out the fires
so residents
inside greenwood
many of them
began to get
their handguns
or something
to defend their
neighborhood
while a lot more
tried to flee
the town completely
they had to
get out but
throughout the
night both sides
continued fighting
according to a red
cross estimate
around 1 256
houses were burned
throughout the night
215 18 others
were looted
but not set on fire
two newspaper companies
schools a library
a hospital churches
hotels stores
and many other
black owned businesses
were destroyed
or damaged by
fire for what
we know what
cause they were
racist and angry
it’s believed that
100 to 300 people
were killed
during this massacre
numerous eyewitnesses described
airplanes flying
above the town
and they were
firing their
rifles out of
the airplane
and they also
dropped fire bombs
on buildings
homes and families
law enforcement personnel
were thought
to be aboard
at least some of
those airplanes
but there were
some flights
said to be privately
owned by who
you know by who
eyewitness accounts
such as testimony
from the survivors
during commission hearings
and a manuscript
by eyewitnesses
discovered in
2015 said that
on the morning
of june 1st
at least a dozen
or more planes
circled the
neighborhood
and dropped burning
turpentine balls
on an office
building a hotel
gas station
and multiple
other buildings
men also fired rifles at
young and old
black residents
gunning them down
in the street
where they just
left everybody
in the street
law enforcement
officials you
know stepped in
and gave a little statement
they’re like look
those airplanes
they were put
there to simply
provide safety
and protection
against a n
word uprising
end quote in
other parts
of the city
where there
was a lot of
middle class
white families
who employed
black people in
their homes
as livin cooks
and servants
well the angry
white rioters
went to their homes
and they demanded
that the families
turn over their
employees to
be taken to
detention centers
around the city
now because
these angry
white people
are showing up
with fucking rifles
and fucking shit
many of them
complied because
if they didn’t
well they were
harassed by
the writers
and their homes
were then vandalized
so then the
governor of
oklahoma well
i kind of already
mentioned this
but the governor
of oklahoma
had ordered
the national
guard to come
in you know
so 109 troops
from oklahoma
city and then
following that
oklahoma city
was put under
martial law
which would be
established day
so troops were
pretty much
arresting anyone
and everyone
who was black
and then requiring them
acquiring the
chinese to carry
identification cards
and it said
as many as 600
black greenwood
residents were
held at three
local facilities
they had the
convention hall
which would
be now known
as the brady
theater the
tulsa fairgrounds
which then it
was located
about a mile
north east of
greenwood and
mcnulty park
which was a
or is a baseball stadium
is it still
a baseball stadium
probably somewhere
held at these
locations for
as long as eight
days for what
you ask for
being black
martial law
was declared
around 11 30 am
and by noon
the troops had managed
to suppress
most of the
remaining violence
in the hours
after the tulsa
race massacre
all charges
against dick
roland were
dropped sarah
the woman who
was working
the elevator
she decided
that she didn’t want to
press charges
she dropped
the charges
so the police
had concluded
that roland had
most likely
just stumbled
into page or
even stepped
on her foot
while they were both
in the elevator
which led to her
kind of shrieking
or screaming
whatever she did
roland who was
kept safely
under guard
in the jail
during the riot
he ended up
being exonerated
and he left tulsa
the next morning
and reportedly
never returned
i mean yay for roland
but 35 city
blocks were
completely destroyed
over 800 people
were treated
for their injuries
and the official
tally of deaths
in the massacre
was 36 people
which now historians
consider much too low
the tulsa race
massacre stood
as one of the
deadliest riots
in us history
behind only
the new york
draft riots
of 1863 which
killed 119 people
in the years
to come as the
black community
worked to rebuild
their ruined homes
and businesses
segregation
in the city
only increased
and oklahoma’s newly
established
branch of the kkk
grew in strength
of course how
the the newspaper
was playing
this of course
was trying to
make the black
community out
to be the bad ones
like they tend to do
for decades
there was no
public ceremonies
there were no
memorials for
the dead or
any efforts
to even acknowledge
the events taken
place between may
31 and june 1
and 1921 instead
there was a
deliberate effort to
cover up the
whole thing
like it never
happened yep
that’s right
wholesome massacre
what’s that
rumors that’s
how i imagine
the people in
the office were
what’s that
never heard
of it never
happened no
remember the
tulsa tribune
they were the
newspaper who
reported the
story in the
first place
and essentially
caused the outrage
well guess what
they removed
the front page
story of may
31st from its
bound volumes
essentially
erasing it from
its records
like it never
happened they
should be held
accountable
scholars later discovered
that police and
state archives
about the riot
were completely
missing as well
as a result
until recently
the tulsa race
massacre was
rarely mentioned
in history books
it wasn’t taught in
school rules
or even talked
about in 1996
on the riot
75th anniversary
a service was held
at the mount zion
baptist church
which rioters had
to the ground
and a memorial
was placed in
front of greenwood
cultural center
the following year
an official
state government
commission was created
to investigate
the tulsa race
riot scientists
and historians
began looking
into long ago
including numerous
victims buried
in unmarked
graves in 2001
the report of
the race riot
commission concluded
that between
100 and 300 people
were killed
and more than
eight 2000 were
made homeless
over those 18
hours and 1921
over the next year
local citizens
filed more than
18 million dollars
in riot related claims
against the city
they did that
by june of 1922
now despite
the promise
of funding many
people from the
greenwood community
spent the winter
of 1921 and
1922 intense
as they worked
to rebuild their
neighborhood
oh yes they
were living
in tents set
up by the red
cross most of
the promise
funding was
never raised
for the residents
and they struggled
to rebuild after
the violence
they had little
to no financial
help in order
to continue
rebuilding a
new fire code
was said to be
set in place
to prevent another
tragedy from
happening and
they were going
to do this by
banning wooden
frame houses
in place of
the previously
burnt homes
now because of
this new fire
code that was
supposedly being
set in place
it halted all
construction
and caused major
delays so they
weren’t even
allowed to rebuild
until this new
fire code was
set in place
so they’re just sitting
and waiting
and they keep
putting it off
putting it off
putting it off
and they were
doing that on
purpose because
they wanted
to take the
land over so
the reconstruction committee
simply failed
to formulate
a single plan
moving forward
which left many of
the residents
prohibited from
rebuilding for
several months
because it was
going against
the fire code
city planners
though they
immediately
saw the fire
that destroyed homes
and businesses
across greenwood
as a really good thing
they were like
hey awesome
there’s a bunch
of open land
because they
had plans for
this new land
okay showing
a complete disregard
for the welfare
of affected
residents but
they were like
oh hell yeah
you know why
they were making
plans of their
own on what
they wanted
to do with the
area plans were
immediately
made to rezoned
the burned area
for industrial use
the reconstruction
committee wanted
to have the
black landholders
sign over their properties
and less than
and two years
later a large
central rail
hub called the
tulsa union
depot was built
where many of
the homes and
businesses destroyed
used to be now
this is not
a fact but a
personal opinion
that i stand
by and truly
believe they
were purposely
blaming this
fire code to
prevent them
from building
in this area
because they
knew the white
oklahomaians
they knew that
they wanted
to take this
land over and
they didn’t want
to give them
18 million dollars
so they kept
putting it off
putting it off
putting it off
and eventually
the people who were
living in tents
trying to rebuild
they had no
money right
they had no
homes they were
growing more
and more exhausted
so they left
and some of
the land holders
were offered a
small compensation
for their land
but it was said
to not be much
you know they
had no option
at that point
because they
had all this
extra land now
it allowed for them
to build an
even larger
train depot
because they just
had so much
extra space
now there were
no zip zada
convictions
for any of the
charges related to
the violence
when it came
to the white rioters
because the
black community
paid a big price
and a lot of them
were detained
there were decades
of silence about
the terror violence
and losses of
this event the riot
was largely
omitted from
local state
and national
histories a
woman by the
name of mary e
jones parish
she was a young
african american
teacher and
journalist from
new york she
was hired to
write an account
of the riot
she was a survivor
and wrote about her
experiences
and collected
other accounts
and experiences
that people she knew
she gathered
photographs
and compiled
a partial roster of
property losses
in the african
american community
she published
these in events of the
tulsa disaster
which was the
first book to
be published
about the riot
many who tried to
share their stories to
local newspapers
city newspapers
town newspapers
wherever they could
encountered pressure
mainly by the
white community
to keep silent
or they would
take the story
and do nothing
with it five
elderly survivors
filed a suit
against the
city of tulsa
and the state
of oklahoma
in february
of 2003 this suit
said that the
state and the
city should
compensate the
victims and
their families
to honor their
admitted obligations
which was detailed
in a commission’s report
the federal
district and
courts dismissed
the suit citing
the statue of
limitations
had been exceeded
on the then
80 year old
case the state
requires that
civil right
cases be filed
within two years
of the event
the supreme
court of the
united states
when you hear that
the supreme
court of the
united states
you kind of
think like oh
there’s hope right
the supreme
court i mean
that’s major
anywho well
they failed
the people and
they declined
to hear the
appeal and this
was in 2003
so i mean it’s not
like it was
back in 1921
so in april 2007
there was a
push for us
congress to
pass a bill
that extended
the statue of
limitations
for this particular
case given the
state and city’s
accountability
for the destruction
and long suppression
of material
about it now
the bill would
be introduced
and heard by
the judiciary
committee of
the house but
once again did
not pass they
reintroduced
the bill in 2009
as the john hope
franklin tulsa
greenwood race
riot claims
accountability
act of 2009
and then again
they reintroduced
the bill in 2012
but it has not
gotten out of
the judiciary
committee it’s
just sat there
it was named
in honor of
the late dr
john hope franklin
who was a first
hand witness
to the destructive
impact that the
riot had on
the community
dr franklin
made numerous
contributions to the
understanding
of the long
term effects
of the riot
on the people
and work to
keep the issue
alive in history
according to the
state department
of education
it has required
the topic in
oklahoma history
classes since
2000 and the
incident has been
included in
oklahoma history
books since 2009
but it wasn’t
required really
country wide
or anything
to actually
learn about it
so a bill in
the oklahoma
state senate
requiring that
all oklahoma high
schools teach
the tulsa race
riot failed
to pass in 2012
the opponents
the people who were
against this
bill claimed
schools are
already learning
about this riot
we don’t need
to make it a
bill and in
november 2018
the 1921 race
riot commission
was officially
renamed the 1921
race massacre
commission nearly
a century later
in april of
2020 yes in
april of 2020
this happened
in 1921 tulsa
plans to dig
for suspected
mass graves
in a city owned
cemetery that
may have been
used to dispose
the victims
bodies they
believe that
there’s a mass
grave somewhere
there has to be
unfortunately
there really
isn’t much of a
happy ending
to this story
but my friends
that is the
awful story
about the tulsa
race massacre
what is owed
this community
99 years later
is a repairing
education and
economic incentives
something more
than symbolic
gestures or
an official report
as an apology
extended to
the survivors
it’s in the oklahoma
legislators
hands and it
has been for
a very long
time i’m sure
we can both
agree that this
story is just
absolutely horrific
and it’s a good
example for
anyone out there
who’s likes
to say like
well why didn’t they just
start their
own community
then and be
successful cause
i’ve seen shit
like that and
it’s like well
they did they did
just that and
it was taken
away from them
it was burned
to the ground
along with their
families their
family members
their wives
their kids destroyed
taken from them
they were punished
for succeeding
and this the
tulsa race massacre
was just a small
little bump
in the road
of plot racism
abuse murder
and attacks
that they have
faced in this
country the
black community
during this time
they had just
come back from
world war one
they were serving
a country it
wasn’t even
their country
they went to
war fought for
our country
came back home
and fought another war
and it’s like
nobody wants to
acknowledge
i’m sorry not
nobody but a
lot of people
don’t want to
acknowledge
the struggle
that’s gone on
for a long time
as if their
lives don’t
matter and i
challenge you
to just learn
history read
about the things
that have been
suppressed for
a long time
like this the 99th
anniversary
just passed
next year is
going to be
the 100th anniversary
of the tulsa
race massacre
i don’t know
i was trying
to think of
a plan what can
we do to help
i’m open to
suggestions
in the comment sections
i don’t know
how to get a
bill passed
or something
but i would
love to have
that to happen
these families
deserve it if
you were in
their shoes
you would feel
that way too
come on i hope
this is all
making sense
i’m being very careful
with my words
because a lot
of people can
take this as
a personal attack
and get very
defensive and
that’s not what
i’m trying to
do i’m just
trying to have
a conversation
we have to educate
ourselves we have
to do better
thank you guys
so much for
hanging out
with me today
i hope you have
a wonderful
rest of your day
you make good
choices please
be safe out there
and you guys
next week bye