A metaphoric knee has been on the necks of Black people for over 400 years in this country. That knee was literally displayed on May 25, 2020 when police officer Derek Chauvin applied pressure to George Floyd’s neck with his knee until he killed him.

From May 31 to June 1, 1921, a white mob destroyed a Black community called Greenwood in Tulsa, Okla. During that 18-hour massacre, more than 300 lives were lost, 600 businesses were burned down and 1,200 homes destroyed leaving 10,000 people homeless.

An article in The Tulsa Tribune headlined “To Lynch A Negro Tonight” is understood to be the impetus that set off the massacre after a 19-year-old Black man named Dick Rowland was arrested and charged with attempting to assault a 17-year-old white elevator operator named Sarah Page. By all indications, the contact had been innocuous and accidental. Rowland was released after five months with no charges filed. The framing of an assault on a white woman has always been a good excuse for white men to use violence and terror to keep Black people “in their place.”

A white mob formed outside the courthouse where Rowland was being held. Armed Black men, having heard about Rowland’s arrest and afraid that Rowland would be lynched also came to the site. The two groups, it is said, exchanged gunfire. The local sheriff deputized the white mob that poured into the Greenwood community setting fires and indiscriminately killing the Black residents. Private planes were deployed, keeping track of the movements of Black Tulsans, shooting at them, and dropping bombs.

The city buried the Black citizens in mass graves, which they are now attempting to excavate, identify and give proper burials.

Black Wall Street, the name given by Booker T. Washington to the Greenwood community, was once 40 blocks long, with 600 thriving businesses; it’s now a half block long with 26 Black businesses. The only building that existed in 1921, that is still left standing is the historical Vernon AME Church built in 1905. Interstate Highway 65 runs through where the Greenwood community once existed.

For years, this tragedy was called the “Tulsa Riots.” This was not a riot but a massacre. The Tulsa Massacre is a microcosm of the African American experience in this country. This incident like so many others around the nation has a direct impact on the vast disparities between Black America and White America. After the massacre, civic leaders publicly promised restitution. However, the city was actually preventing property owners and residents from getting what they were owed. Not one Black business or homeowner was able to collect from insurance claims filed, because the insurance companies cited riot clauses as reason not to pay claims.

Insurance claims amounting to some $1.8 million were filed against Tulsa, but the City Commission didn’t allow most of them to go through. Because many Black families lacked insurance, the $1.8 million figure underestimates the damage done. It took until 1937 for these cases to be adjudicated, where most were summarily dismissed. However, one claim was approved –– a white shop owner was compensated for the guns stolen from his store.

Research by Nathan Nunn an economist at Harvard University believes that the massacre is directly responsible for reducing incomes of Black Tulsans by an average of 7.3% — what he terms “a sizable effect.” Nunn has found that the massacre is associated with declines in homeownership, occupational status and educational attainment.

When it comes to the mistreatment of Black people, this is another story that white America chose not to tell. Even more shameful than trying to rewrite history or attempting to absolve themselves from any responsibility or accountability for the state of Black America, Tulsa is monetizing the terror and trauma of Black people. The Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission raised $30 million for the 100-year commemoration with the construction of the Greenwood Rising and other projects. None of this funding will be going to the living survivors of the massacre.

Black Americans have always had to fight to exist in this country and the fight has never been fair. Each time that it looks like we are making strides, like Black Tulsans were making economically, or Black Georgians are making at the voting booth, or Black politicians like Barack Obama are making by getting elected, there is always blowback.

Black America is not asking for favors or special treatment. What we expect is to be seen through the same lens that white America see themselves.

And we need you to take your knee off our necks …