100 years in the past as we speak, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a Black teenage shoe shiner named Dick Rowland stepped onto an elevator being operated by a 17-year-old White woman. Wild allegations about what occurred on that elevator between the 2 teenagers would result in some of the infamous massacres in American historical past. Rowland was arrested the subsequent morning, and the Tulsa Tribune printed an incendiary article claiming that the younger man had tried to “assault” the woman. A white mob descended on the courthouse, demanding that Rowland be turned over to them. Armed Black males confirmed as much as defend Rowland and stop him from being lynched. Gunfire quickly erupted. It will result in what would change into referred to as the Tulsa Bloodbath, as White folks started to shoot Black folks on sight.
