The riot of Tulsa begun in May 31st 1921, it was a result of the incidence on the day before. A black man named Dick Rowland steeped in an elevator operated by a woman (Sarah Page). As soon as Rowland steeped in, Sarah screamed. No one knows what happened inside the elevator. However, when Sarah screamed, Rowland walked of the elevator out of fear. Later, Rowland was charged in a courthouse for sexual attack against the lady (Sarah Page).
The next day, Rowland was arrested by the county Sheriff and it was alleged that he was to face a lynch mob or a possible imprisonment. The black community were incensed by this and stood up in arms to protect Rowland. Most of the black First World War veterans used their rifles to defend Rowland. The conflict quickly generated into a full- fledged warfare between the veterans and the National Guard. The national guards used machine guns on black men of Tulsa even after they had surrendered. Official estimates reported that 26 black men and 10 white men perished. In the contrary, unofficial estimates reported that over 300 black men died. After this incidence, most black men migrated from Tulsa.
Jim Crow Laws refers to racist legal system that was in place in the Southern States soon after the abolishment of slavery. The laws operated between 1877 and 1960s. Under Jim Crow laws, African Americans were classified as second class citizens and less than equal to white people. Much church theologies taught that blacks were biblically predestined to be slaves because of a curse bestowed on them by God. Some of the laws were peculiar and prohibited ridiculous things like shaking hands between blacks and whites and interracial sexual contact between the races. Jim Crow laws fell after the realization of the Civil Rights act of 1965.
The leasing of prisoners was a common occurrence in the south during the Jim Crow laws period. Black prisoners would be leased out to private companies to do certain job for a small fee to the state. The convicts were not paid but were subjected to slave like working conditions. The prisoners would leave their prisons and work the whole day and then return at night. There was no age restriction and even children were subjected to this practice. Black men’s representation in prison increased tremendously during this period.
In the early 20th century, some black people of mixed race were the elites thanks to the privileges that accrued from color of the skin. Others were born into land owning families and freed slaves and were thus relatively unaffected by the color bar. However, this not the story of everyone black person who made it to the elite class. The period between the two world wars marked a surge of urbanization from the south to the northern industrial centers. The black community was most affected by this migration. African American transformed themselves into a predominately industrial working class community. This facilitated the growth of the middle class and of the elites. Some of the elites at this time included business owners, college professors such as Booker T Washington, Marcus Garvey amongst others
Some of the elites included people like Booker T Washington who founded the Tuskegee Institute and organization that helped black rural people acquire technical skills. Other institutions included historical black colleges like Howard University, Mississippi black Baptist University among others.
Some of the early fraternities included Old school omega, Greek school, Kappa Alpha psi amongst others. These are still in existence today.
Marcus Garvey was a Jamaican political leader and a staunch proponent of Black Nationalism and pan Africans movement. Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African community’s league and was an inspirational figure in the Black Nationalism struggle.
Marcus Garvey criticized Booker T’s approach of empowering black people that he argued fostered the belief that blacks were subordinate to white people. In Garvey’s view, black people had every right to fight for equality with the white people.
Garvey hoped for a rapid progression of black people and for establishment of a black elite that would be instrumental in steering economic growth. In addition, his radical politics and hatred of Booker T did not benefit the struggle for black civil rights. Moreover, Garvey desired to single handedly develop Liberia a fete that was impossible to achieve.
Zora Neale Hurston is one of the leading African American writers of the twentieth-century. She is also a key player in the Harlem revolution and is considered an influence to Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison and Alice Walker amongst others.
Claudio McKay was a Jamaican American poet and a key figure in the Harlem Art Revival . He wrote novels such as Home to Harlem, Banjo and Banana Bottom.
Langton Hughes was an instrumental intellectual and writer in Harlem. At only 24, Hughes received accolades as a brilliant poet and writer. He recorded the regular life in Harlem took part in the revolution.
The economic boom and the cultural revival attracted middle class white Americans to move into Harlem as a progressive neighborhood.
Clau Langd
in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. Many Christian ministers and theologians taught that whites were the Chosen people, blacks were cursed to be servants, and God supported racial segregation
