Rossticus said:
pagerman @ work said:
Buford T. Justice said:
I'm 47, and have ardently read and watched the news since I was 8 or so, and I have never heard of this event. As terrible as it was, how did I manage to graduate from university, and never hear of this event?
When I say as terrible as it was, it was a pathetic, ignorant and unnecessary act.
Because at the end of the day, it just doesn't matter much in the grand sweep of history. If something like this doesn't start a movement, or spark national outrage that causes other states or congress to act in some way that leaves a mark on history, it's just a very crappy thing that happened for even worse reasons a long time ago.
Lots of terrible, horrific things happened throughout history. There is simply no way to cover every one of these events in your average US History class. MAYBE in an Oklahoma history class, but if you did not grow up there, you probably aren't going to have the opportunity to take such a class.
There was no national outrage, congressional action, movement, etc because
1) "It was a bunch of uppity black folks that got out of line, forgot their place, and were disrespectful to whites." "It was their fault".
2) The stark reality if Jim Crow USA has never really been taught in history classes. It's glossed over pretty well. There's a difference between not covering all the events and not discussing any of the events.
I know that it wasn't given much detail in either my high school nor university history courses. I'd have to say that an entire segment of society having the **** kicked out of them for 100 years after they were "free" and "equal" is a pretty important topic for learning and discussion. The subjugation and exploitation of blacks occurred for roughly 2/3 of the entire history of the American republic. That's a simple fact.
Just because it's been intentionally swept under the rug as much as possible over the years doesn't make it "unimportant". It's a crucial ingredient in the evolution of the republic and a very specific reason that we're embroiled in many of the social conflicts we are at this very moment. It's defined America as much as any other chain of events in our history.
Sounds like an issue with your education. We covered Jim Crow quite a bit in my public schools starting in junior high and all the way through A&M and then picked up in my private school graduate degree program. And this all happened in the 80s and 90s for me.
I disagree that it's defined America as much as any other event in our history. That is such a myopic view of U.S. history which includes Colonial history, so roughly 400 years. Is it a major part of our history, yes. Is what primarily defines us. No. That's why historical scholars, both black and white, have rejected so much of what the 1619 Project has tried to say about slavery and Jim Crow as it relates to all of American history.
I've already posted this information, but it would serve you well to seek to understand how the black community rebuilt Greenwood to better than it was before 1921 and how it flourished as a community from 1930-1960.
While ending Jim Crow was absolutely a good thing. Many changes done for Black Civil Rights in the 1960s were good things. But many things have absolulty destroyed the black community. The 1960s urban renewal, government housing programs, forced desegregation(as opposed to simply ending forced segregation), and government welfare are all things that destroyed not just the vibrant black economic center of Greenwood, but many areas like Greenwood throughout the country. Before there was the crime ridden economically depressed Harlem of the 1970s, there was the vibrant black culture of Harlem from 1930-1960.
Slavery, Jim Crow, and events like the 1921 race war of Tulsa didn't produce George Floyd's Black America. The Great Society programs of the 1960s have done that.