The Underlying Causes Of The Greenwood Massacre Of 1921

545 Words3 Pages

Luis Cordon-Hernandez
Mr. Green
US History 1
12 April 2023
The Greenwood Massacre of 1921
A topic highly regarded as one of the worst race massacres in United States history is the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. As one of the wealthiest black neighborhoods then, it was soaring in every aspect of life. However, a rumor spread throughout Tulsa and white mobs formed outside a courthouse. Soon after, the massacre began. Hundreds were killed and thousands of lives were ruined. In this document, the topic discussed will be the underlying causes of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The main reason was racism, displayed in documents providing evidence to show that jealousy of wealth in the black community, political corruption, no fear of punishment, and the tension between the two races, which comes from resentment towards the success of the black people.
There is always a motive for any crime, and this massacre was no different. Evidence of this massacre leads to wealth motivations. Take documents 6 and 8, which show the number of businesses at the time of the incident and eyewitnesses who witnessed the atrocities and aftermath. According to the unnamed woman in Document 8, she stated: “One bunch of whites would come in and loot. Even women with …show more content…

While this topic may sound confusing, it is relatively simple in retrospect. In Document 4, Dr. George E. Haynes writes a report about the national problem of lynchings all over the country. It stated that Woodrow Wilson was “aroused by the anger of mob violence” and he decided to make a statement. In his own words, “vitally affects the honor of the nation and the very character and integrity of our institutions”. He stated how the lynchings affects the honor of the nation when that was not the main problem at hand. The report also stated that attempts to prosecute the lynchers were very rare, showing how there was little punishment and political corruption in the United