Memories of the Tulsa, OK Massacre 1921: 'Goin' Back To T-Town' PBS American Experience
New, PBS. On May 30, 1921, a young Black Greenwood resident was arrested for allegedly assaulting a white woman in a downtown elevator. The next day, mobs of white Tulsans, thwarted in their attempt to lynch the man, invaded the district with murderous intent. They set fire to businesses, churches, schools, a library, a hospital & more than 1,200 homes. In fewer than 24 hours, the thriving neighborhood had been reduced ash. These living witnesses remember & recall the harrowing events of May 31, 1921 & surviving the Tulsa Massacre, one of the most terrible racially-motivated massacres in American history.
Goin Back to T-Town tells the story of Greenwood, an extraordinary Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that prospered during the 1920s & 30s despite rampant and hostile segregation. Torn apart in 1921 by one of the worst racially-motivated massacres in the nations history, the neighborhood rose from the ashes, & by 1936 boasted the largest concentration of Black-owned businesses in the U.S., known as Black Wall Street. Ironically, it could not survive the progressive policies of integration & urban renewal of the 1960s. Told through the memories of those who lived through the events, the film is a bittersweet celebration of small-town life & the resilience of a communitys spirit.