rants from a woc

black wall street

It isn't an unknown fact that American history books tend to leave out a lot of information, cover up things that don't favour them and despite what they may say, they are often biased.

One topic that most people don't know about is Black Wall Street. These days, people stereotype Africans to be lazy, poor, uneducated and very violent and the media portrays most black communities to be aggressive and dangerous which is actually somewhat true, these communities are dangerous because government doesn't give them an opportunity to do anything with their lives or even educate them sufficiently on their history.

Media and today's society makes it seem as though black peoples would never survive on their own. Always using the common excuse of talking about the rising numbers of black on black crime.

Except, black people have once survived on their own; they were even more successful than the Caucasians in the country and frankly, they can do it again.

Black Wall Street was actually a community in Tulsa, Oklahoma called Greenwood. It was home to affluent and striving businesses owned by Black Americans. It was so prominent because they held a strong bond and often depended on one another. Plus, they delivered cash from hand so it was mostly built on trust.

For example, if someone's house got burned down accidentally, their neighbours would help build it back within weeks and if someone lost something then whoever was in the position to help would replace it.

It was a result of segregation but unfortunately for white people it had turned sour as Black Wall Street was now even richer and more powerful than their Wall Street which was what led to its destruction.

During the First World War, black men were given the worst positions in contrast to white men however the black men returned home as heroes and returned to a wealthy community while America's Wall Street had suffered during the war and they were poor.

Envy got to them and many sympathisers helped the Ku Klux Klan bomb this community. This was the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot of Whites Against Blacks. It is one of the most devastating massacres in the U.S. History but as usual we don't learn about it because it doesn't put White people in a favourable light or position.

3000 African Americans lost their lives in this and 600 businesses were turned to dust.

Years later, The Civil Rights Act stopped segregation and no, it wasn't because white people came to their senses and realised that African Americans are as human as them; it was because they were coming to realise that Black people could overshadow them in power and money if they wanted to.

Let me break this down: there was once an affluent Black community but on June 1st 1921  within the span of 12 hours Black Wall Street was bombed from the air and destroyed because white people were jealous.

Yet white people have the nerve today to stereotype black people as uneducated but the truth is that we flourished on our own once and we can do it again.

- queen z