Black Wall Street refers to Tulsa, Oklahoma – a place north east of the state of Oklahoma. In the late 2oth century, the Tulsa area, informally referred to as the Negro Wall Street back then, was home to the wealthiest African American businessmen. The community was vibrant and thriving, especially considering that infrastructure was exceptionally laid down, and that the African Americans of Tulsa had already established the social amenities that are associated with convenience. Perhaps it is difficult to believe, but a dollar could circulate between 36 and 100 times before leaving the Black Wall Street (Johnson, 2007). Today, a dollar circulates only close to 15 times before it leaves Tulsa. The pride and vibrant nature of Tulsa was short lived when the infamous Ku Klux Klan in collaboration with political leaders and influential sympathizers from within the government decided to act out of envy.
On the first day of June 1921, an atrocity that has since been described as the American holocaust took place. The Ku Klux Klan led white forces attacked the thriving Tulsa neighborhood, striking from the air by throwing heavy bombs that were followed by serious destruction of the greenwood neighborhood by rowdy envious whites. In the ensuing melodrama, 3000 African Americans lost their lives, more than 10000 blacks became homeless, 47 blocks housing businesses were brought down, and 600 thriving and lucrative businesses came crumbling down. The riots, which were the epitome of racial hatred, saw 21 restaurants, 21 churches, 30 grocery stores, a bus system, six private planes, a post office, law offices, a library and schools destroyed (Johnson, 2007). Ultimately, Tulsa was no more.
The atrocity had quite a number of effects on both the families and the communities. Speaking of immediate effects on the family, the foremost is that the family members had to mourn the loss of their loved ones through death or separation that was caused by the chaos. The families were antagonized by the events of the day because in addition to losing their loved ones, they lost property, and homes (Carrillo, 2012). They know what this meant – hunger and suffering. In the long term the families grew poor and had to struggle hard because rebuilding Tulsa was not easy, especially considering that the whites were not for the idea. Much like the family, the community was also adversely affected, especially considering that most of the properties destroyed were useful not only to the owners but also to the community.
With the destruction of the school, the churches and the restaurants, the social lives of the African American community were devastated. The destruction of property and loss of lives left the entire community in a somber mood (James, 2003). The immediate reactions were what everyone could guess – mourning and confusion. In the long run, the community developed a sense of hatred for the whites. There was a state of mistrust because even after the entire atrocity had come to an end, the blacks were not willing to live there. Poverty because a trait of the blacks because their wealth had been brought down to ashes. The relationship between the family and the community grew stronger Carrillo (2012) explains that during the successful times, nepotism was a common practice, however, after the racist riots; the African Americans realized that they had to unite and fight as one. This washed nepotism down the drain.
According to the structure-function framework, the family is considered to be a system with many parts, which perform different functions. When the event took place, the families were broken. They lost various members of the family in the ensuing chaos as such; the family unit became dysfunctional because it lacked some members, meaning that some functions were not being executed properly. Perhaps the best illustration would be to consider a family that lost a father. Johnson (2007) explains that, according to psychologists, a family that lacks a father figure is likely to have delinquents. As such, it is worth concluding that the children of the African American families suffered poor parenting.
On the presumption that the children of both sides were aware of what was going on, it would be likely that racism would be a vice that was there to stay. James (2003) says that the social learning theory emphasizes learning form a social context, where the people that children consider role models belong. Since children learn from what adults do, it is valid to conclude that the children of the whites and their black counterparts could learn to live as enemies, with the whites considering themselves superior to the blacks. This could mean that the children from both sides could remain separated by racism and color. In my view, the attack on the lack Wall Street was the most unjustifiable of all the whites’ efforts to slow down black development. I think the attack was a show of cowardice and disrespect for human rights. The lack of consideration about devastating effects of the attack on the innocent men, women and children, was the epitome of racism – in my view.
References
Carrillo, K. J. (2012). African American history day by day: A reference guide to events. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood.
James, W. A. (2003). The skin color syndrome among African-Americans: Nonfiction. New York: IUniverse, Inc.
Johnson, H. B. (2007). Black Wall Street: From riot to renaissance in Tulsa's historic Greenwood District. Austin, TX: Eakin Press.
