US Race Relations from 1918 to the mid-1930s

The Tulsa Race Massacre and the Harlem Renaissance

Csucs Gergő
International Relations – BA
Social History
 Table of Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................................

Abstract........................................................................................................................................

Sociological problems related to the Tulsa Race Massacre and the Harlem Renaissance......

The Tulsa Race Massacre...........................................................................................................

The Harlem Renaissance............................................................................................................

US race relations from 1918 to the mid-1930s...........................................................................

Conclusion...................................................................................................................................

Bibliography................................................................................................................................
 Introduction

In my final essay for the course of Social History, I examined several sociological
problems, such as racism, racial discrimination, racial segregation. I managed to conduct this
essay with the help of historical events, one of them is the Tulsa Race Massacre. The massacre
took place in the state of Oklahoma, United States of America. This topic is somewhat personal
to me, since I used to live in Oklahoma for a longer period of time. During my stay, I got to
learn about this historical event, therefore I became interested in this topic. The other historical
event discussed in my essay is the Harlem Renaissance. In my research, I attempted to find
reasons for the contradiction of this era regarding race relations. In addition to this, I find it
particularly important to deal with these sociological problems (especially racism) because they
are still present in the 21st century.

Abstract

As I have mentioned it in the introduction, first I examined the fundamental sociological

problems that were present in the Tulsa Race Massacre. These are: racism, racial
discrimination, and racial segregation. Next, I introduced the Tulsa Race Massacre in detail,
including the beforemath, the massacre itself, and the aftermath of it as well. Afterward, the
Harlem Renaissance was also briefly discussed in order the exemplify the paradox of this era.
Finally, summarized the US race relations from 1918 to the mid-1930s using the previously
discussed sociological issues and historical events. In the final part, I concluded all the crucial
points of my essay and summarized why this era was paradoxical.
 Sociological problems related to the Tulsa Race Massacre and the Harlem
Renaissance

The first sociological problem that can be seen in the historical event of the Tulsa Race
Massacre is racism. Racism is the ideas or theories of superiority of one race or group of
persons of one colour or ethnic origin. (European Commission, n.d.) Basically racism in this
case was the fundamental pillar of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Racism in the United States of
America is rooted in the legalization of slavery by the state of Virginia in 1661. (Gonzales,
1993, p. 45) From this point, the idea of white supremacy started to bloom; therefore, racism
spread nationwide.
Racism is strongly connected to the next sociological problem, which is racial
discrimination. Racial discrimination is any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference
based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of
nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human
rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field
of public life. (OHCHR, 2019)
Another sociological problem that was present in the first part of the 20th century in
the United States of America’s race relations is racial segregation. Racial segregation is the
practice of restricting people to certain circumscribed areas of residence or to separate
institutions and facilities on the basis of race or alleged race. Racial segregation provides a
means of maintaining the economic advantages and superior social status of the politically
dominant group. (The Editors of Encyclopeadia Britannica, 2021)
In conclusion, these 3 main sociological problems were present in the era of the Harlem
Renaissance and the Tulsa Race Massacre. It can be concluded that all of these events in history
rooted from racism. Had not been racism a systematic issue, all of these tragedies in US history
would not have happened.
 The Tulsa Race Massacre

Before all, it is crucial to answer the question of whether the systematic killing of black
population in the city of Tulsa was a riot or a massacre. According to the Cambridge English
Dictionary, a riot is an occasion when a large number of people behave in a noisy, violent,
and uncontrolled way in public, often as a protest. A massacre is defined by the Cambridge
English Dictionary in the following way: an act of killing a lot of people. (Cambridge
Dictionary, n.d.) In the following lines of my essay, I will present the historical event itself,
then I will find an answer to one of my research questions whether it was a riot or a massacre.
The Tulsa Race Massacre happened from May 31st, 1921, to June 1st, 1921 in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. The Greenwood district, also known as the Black Wall Street, was a prosperous
black neighborhood in the 1920s in Tulsa. Greenwood was separated from other parts of Tulsa
by a railroad track, which can be regarded as a symbol of segregation of black population. The
massacre is thought to be systematic and intentional because the vast majority of white citizens
could not tolerate the flourishing black owned businesses and their success in general.
Therefore, it is thought that this tension between black and white citizens could be already felt
in the air; but there had to be a reason that could finally put the conflict to an end (even if it
was brutal, illegal, and unethical). The incident that fundamentally triggered the formation of
the riot/massacre happened on May 30th, 1921, when Dick Rowland, a young black man rode
the elevator with a white woman. It is unknown what exactly happened in the elevator, but
Rowland was taken into custody and was alleged with rape. Afterward, a white mob was
organized just outside the courthouse wanting Rowland to be lynched. As an answer to this,
black World War I veterans gathered around the courthouse in order to protect the yet innocent
Rowland (presumption of innocence). A white man from the mob was thought to had disarmed
one of the black veterans- this is when the first shot was fired, which hit a white bystander. As
a response to this conflict, the Sheriff of Tulsa gave legal permission and arms to untrained
white citizens to murder the black habitants of Greenwood, destroy their homes and the nearly
200 black-owned business that were located in that district. Some survivors even said that there
were airplanes flying over Greenwood while dropping bombs to destroy the district completely.
Moreover, as a part of the declared martial law, approximately 6,000 black Tulsans were held
at the Convention Hall and the Fairground. Basically, black Tulsans were either killed,
displaced, or chased out of Tulsa. The number of lost black lives is uncertain, but it is predicted
to be around 36-300. (Tulsa Historical Society & Museum, 2018) (CBS News, 2021)
 As a conclusion, there is no doubt that this historical event was not a riot, but a
massacre. There is a plethora of evidence that support that the Tulsa Race Massacre was
intentional and systematically organized. In addition, according to the Cambridge English
Dictionary’s definition, a riot’s main motive is rebellion rather than the systematic murder of
one specific ethnic group (in this case Afro-Americans). The black community of Tulsa is
recovering from this tragical event that happened a 100 years ago. It is important to note that
the victims’ descendants and the victims themselves have not been financially compensated by
law. However, in May 2021, a Georgia congressman introduced a bill that would make it easier
for victims to seek reparations. (Brown, 2021) Even though the Tulsa Race Massacre was swept
under the rug for several decades, multiple influential people started to deal with this issue,
therefore the compensation of victims is becoming more and more possible.

The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance (also known as the New Negro Movement) took place from
1918 to 1937 in New York City in the district of Harlem. This era was about the flourishing
African American culture, especially in the field of creative arts. “Embracing literary, musical,
theatrical, and visual arts, participants sought to reconceptualize “the Negro” apart from the
white stereotypes that had influenced Black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each
other.” (Southern Connecticut State University, 2021) The Harlem Renaissance had a big
impact on American popular culture, as the African American culture was reflected in not only
the music, but fashion and dance as well. (Williams, n.d.) Basically, the movement was about
the rebirth of African American culture that had been heavily impacted by the racism and racial
segregation of the past.
The background of the Harlem Renaissance is mainly the Great Migration, which
means that African Americans moved from rural to urban areas, and from the Southern part of
the USA to the North. As a result, the level of literacy had extremely risen, in addition many
national organizations were created in order to protect African American civil rights.
Therefore, the Harlem Renaissance was not only about the flourishing of African American
culture, but about the extreme improvement in the protection of African American civil and
human rights. Harlem was only the “capital” of this movement and systematic change, but the
effect of it spread nationwide.
 US race relations from 1918 to the mid-1930s

This era of the US race relations presents a paradox, since the Harlem Renaissance was
about the improvement of African American life, including flourishing black culture and firmer
civil and human rights. However, while the Harlem Renaissance was happening in the Northern
part of the United States, those black citizens who stayed in the South (in this case the Mid-
West) had to face serious racism and racial segregation. To bring an example from my essay,
the Tulsa Race Massacre greatly explains the situation in the South.
The contradiction between the Harlem Renaissance and the Tulsa Race Massacre
clearly reflects my hypothesis: The era of the Harlem Renaissance was paradoxical because
there was a huge inequality between African Americans who lived in urbanized areas of the
country and African Americans who were not part of the Great Migration. As long as inequality
is present within the African American community, there will be no equality between different
races and ethnic groups.
As a conclusion, the quality white and black relation from 1918 to the mid-1930s
depended on the location. If we look at rural and Southern parts of the United States of
America, racism and racial segregation was worsening, while in the North and in big cities the
previously mentioned sociological problems seemed to be abolished.

Conclusion

As it was discussed above in details, there were 3 main sociological issues (racism,
racial segregation, and racial discrimination) in the era of the Harlem Renaissance, which
highly contributed to the Tulsa Race Massacre, when the black citizens of Tulsa were
murdered, and their businesses and homes were destroyed. However, this era presents a clear
paradox. The impacts of the Harlem Renaissance showed something completely contradictory
to the Tulsa Race Massacre. Finally, it can be concluded that there were huge differences
regarding the quality of life, and rights between African Americans nationwide. These
differences were fundamentally based on the geographical location of the African American
population.
 Bibliography

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(Accessed: 30th of December 2021)

Cambridge University Press (n.d.): Cambridge Dictionary. Massacre. Available online:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/massacre (Accessed: 29th of December
2021)

Cambridge University Press (n.d.): Cambridge Dictionary. Riot. Available online:

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/riot (Accessed: 29th of December 2021)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptbuPdkI434&t=2366s (Accessed: 30th of December
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