Tulsa was site of notorious 1921 white-on-Black massacre, while Trump’s chosen date of ‘Juneteenth’ marks the end of slavery in the U.S.
This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.In this 1921 file image provided by the Greenwood Cultural Center via Tulsa World, Mt. Zion Baptist Church burns after being torched by white mobs during the 1921 Tulsa massacre. Black community and political leaders called on President Donald Trump to at least change the Juneteenth date for a rally kicking off his return to public campaigning.
“To choose the date, to come to Tulsa, is totally disrespectful and a slap in the face to even happen,” said Sherry Gamble Smith, president of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce, an organization named after the prosperous Black community that white Oklahomans burned down in the 1921 attack.
The Trump campaign was aware in advance that the date for the president’s return to rallies was Juneteenth, according to two campaign officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity.When the date was discussed, it was noted that Biden had held a fundraiser a year ago on Juneteenth. Though choosing June 19 was not meant to be incendiary, some blowback was expected, the officials said.
Arena marketing director Meghan Blood said Thursday she didn’t know yet about any plans for social distancing or other coronavirus precautions for Trump’s rally, which would be one of the larger public gatherings in the U.S. at this stage of the outbreak. Tulsa, an oil centre along the Arkansas River, has had its own marches, viral videos and problematic police actions during this month’s unrest.
Nationally, as research brings to light more about the 1921 massacre, Tulsa increasingly is associated with the rampage in which white Tulsans razed a thriving Black business community, killing as many as 300 people. Long dismissed by generations of white Tulsans as a race “riot,” the May 31-June 1 events were marked this year by community memorials.
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