In May and June 1921, interpersonal tensions between the Tulsans exploded into what is called today the Tulsa race massacre. The object of scorn was the Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa, which had been a Black settlement since the mid-19th century and developed into an economically independent part of town with Black-owned businesses and the majority of Tulsa's Black population. In 1921, sparked by a false accusation, white Tulsans, together with police forces, set the Greenwood district on fire, killed several Black residents, and detained others. What was initially labeled a race riot was not an American singularity. Studying the event will help us gain a better understanding of racism in the US. This graduate seminar will be an explorative course, working with archives, historical resources, as well as American Cultural Studies approaches and popular cultural revisitations.
- Dozent/in: Marcel Hartwig