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The massacre of Tulsa’s “Black Wall Street”

Vox | September 11, 2025



White mobs destroyed “Black Wall Street” in 1921. But where are the victims’ bodies?

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100 years ago, a white mob destroyed an American neighborhood called “Black Wall Street,” murdering an estimated 300 people in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That incident — known as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — has been largely left out of US history books. Today, a century later, the city still has a lot of questions. For one, where are the bodies of the victims? As the city’s mayor re-opens the search for mass graves, we take a look at what happened back in 1921…and why finding these graves still matters to the people of Tulsa.

For more reading, check out the links below:

Vox’s reporting on an eyewitness account of the horrific attack: https://www.vox.com/2016/6/1/11827994/tulsa-race-massacre-black-wall-street

The Washington Post’s in-depth story on the massacre and the current challenges of gentrification: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/09/28/feature/they-was-killing-black-people/

And to take a look through more digitized photos, audio, and documents from 1921, check out the Tulsa Historical Society’s collection: https://www.tulsahistory.org/exhibit/1921-tulsa-race-massacre/

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Written by Vox

Comments

This post currently has 33 comments.

  1. @CtrAltPod

    September 11, 2025 at 4:12 pm

    I am a Tulsa raised and educated college student and first learned of the massacre in 8th grade. fast forward 7 years later to yesterday when a member of my own family found original prints of many of the photos featured in the documentary holding and examing the images was the most impactful moment ive had regarding the massacre. history should never be covered up but recorded and taught so that we might avoid falling victim to the same mistakes in the future.

  2. @ChávezTheAiry

    September 11, 2025 at 4:12 pm

    Watching this so I know what kind of racist the Trump Administration is trying to turn their country into so I know how bad it might all get, of course this is a stain the white supremacists made, and I hope the Colorful people of today don't get made into one by the Apartheid Pushing White Afrikaner Refugees (My,Yours, and )Our Tax Payer Dollars Are Being Used To Pay For.

  3. @sunoobbynoonoo

    September 11, 2025 at 4:12 pm

    You force them to leave their homes and work them as slaves with no hope of having a life and then when they see light you destroy their community and hope.
    how more evil can they be, this is so sad.

  4. @trevorcharles2025

    September 11, 2025 at 4:12 pm

    So what REALLY happened is not captured in history? History always gets rewritten to suit the current government.
    In the same way that this was covered up and lied about, South African history is also covered up by the current government to keep us all hating each other.

  5. @justinchristopher864

    September 11, 2025 at 4:12 pm

    As a white alabamian. I would say that this is a day that should be remembered in our history. Above so many others. The victims should be remembered. And the organizations involved should be condemed.

  6. @kinkin1830

    September 11, 2025 at 4:12 pm

    My hometown is right outside Tulsa and we were never taught this in K-12. I first learned about it a couple years ago when it started to make the news about the unmarked graves.

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