Even though our government still pretends that the Trail of Tears never happened—out of sight, out of mind, I guess—at least President Joe Biden is duly recognizing that the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre occurred and will be here in Oklahoma on Tuesday, June 1st, to mark this important historical event.
Commemorating the 100-year anniversary of one of Oklahoma’s infamous race-related evils, Biden will be in Tulsa to solemnly remember the time a vicious mob of angry white people destroyed a burgeoning part of Tulsa because, you know, racism.
From KOCO:
President Joe Biden is coming to Tulsa next week for the commemoration of 100 years since the Tulsa Race Massacre.
A White House spokesperson confirmed that Biden will travel to Tulsa on Tuesday, June 1.
The massacre took place May 31 and June 1 in 1921. The Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission is planning the “Remember & Rise” event on May 31 featuring performance by singer John Legend and speakers, including political activist Stacey Abrams.
They often say history repeats itself, so it sadly makes me wonder: with all the racial hatred against minorities in Oklahoma—oftentimes incited by our own state leaders—is something like the Tulsa Race Massacre going to happen all over again and will it be “swept under the rug” too? I mean, look what Republicans are trying to do to mentally erase the Jan. 6th violent attack and attempted coup against America when Trumpers stormed Washington D.C.
Still, I’m generally happy and somewhat encouraged that Biden will be coming down from D.C. to finally mark this momentous occasion, a chapter that was barely touched on in many of our Oklahoma History classes, instead supplemented with a chapter about Woody Guthrie or some obvious space-filler to meet the allotted page-count.
How times have, thank God, changed.
But, still, in this age of festering political hate, what truly terrifies me are the mentally diseased that will undoubtedly show up to protest Biden, and, by proxy, Black citizens seeking justice for this insidious crime, a wound that has never truly healed in the community.
I would say I hope they have ample police support, but maybe that’s wrong too…at least in Oklahoma.
I pray that, with at least Biden offering his words of honesty and kindness in person, at least now many white liberals will at least begin to realize and recognize the role they played—and still play—in the racial injustice they’ve inherited and continue to perpetrate on a daily basis, finding some sort of true healing that is never to be found in the soul of Conservatives.
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Follow Louis on Twitter at @LouisFowler and Instagram at @louisfowler78.
