The Red Summers Of 1919 And The Tulsa Massacre Of 1921

"The Red Summers of 1917-1921", have you ever wondered how it got its name? Well, it earned its bad reputation from the red blood-stained streets that smothered cities as racial violence erupted across America. In the aftermath of World War I, African Americans across the country faced the same, and a wave of lynchings, race riots, and other acts of violence at the hands of white supremacists. These horrible events triggered a newfound spirit of determination amongst African Americans, who used their anger to fuel their fight for racial justice against white Americans. The Red Summers was a time of racial conflict between African Americans and white supremacists that significantly impacted African Americans' lives in the past and present.

These historical events have had a lasting impact on the present, and the Black Lives Matter movement has directly responded to this legacy of oppression. The Black Lives Matter movement began in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. It has since become a global movement, calling for an end to police brutality and systemic racism against Black people ( Garza, Cullors, Tometi). The movement gained renewed momentum following the murder of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis in 2020. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter in 2021 (Onion, Sullivan, Mullen). The death of George Floyd caused a chain of BLM protests and riots that raised even more awareness of the movement across the country. As time passes, we are making steady progress in conquering equality for each race in America. Despite our progress, the fight for racial justice in America is far from over. Many incidents of police brutality against black people continue to occur, and systemic racism remains deeply ingrained in many areas of American society. For example, a study by the Brookings Institution found that the median wealth of white families is ten times that of black families ( McIntosh, Moss, Nunn, Shambaugh). The tremendous difference in wealth between the two races results from a long history of discriminatory policies and practices, such as redlining and unequal access to education and employment opportunities. Nevertheless, recent progress has been made in dismantling racism in all areas of society—for example, the passing of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the U.S. The House of Representatives is one step in the right direction. However, the continued prevalence