The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921

Rating:
Summary: EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG?
Review: a CLIFFORD HODGE review

Do you remember that Firesign Theatre album: "Everything You Know is Wrong"? Once in awhile you read a book about an event in history that makes you wonder how you failed to hear about it earlier. "Why didn't anyone ever tell me about this?" you ask yourself, trying to pull something from the recesses of your memory to bridge the gap and harmonize the cognitive dissonance you feel, having learned that the world is a stranger place than you had suspected.

In the '60's we associated "race riot" with violence and unrest in the black community, images of blacks breaking windows, setting fires, throwing rocks, etc. Well, yes, Virginia, it's true, there was a time when "race riot" not only did not refer to violent behavior by blacks, but it referred to a series of events which involved, as The Clash might say: "White Riot", the white majority running amok, burning down houses, looting, killing innocent blacks, and, what seems most significant, destroying signs of black economic achievement (spell that i-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-c-e ) and social advancement.

A stack of books which have come out in the last 3 or 4 years can help you patch the holes in your education, books dealing with early 20th-century riots in places like Tulsa, Florida, and New Orleans. What is perhaps most disturbing about the revelations in these books is the fact that the violence is carried out not only in full view of the local autorities, but with the cooperation and assistance of local and even national government. Talk about being up against it! Why are these important? Isn't this just mean-spirited muckraking? No. They raise questions relevant to a current legal issue, namely the payment of reparations to blacks. The first-hand accounts provided by Madigan vividly establish the severity and duration of the damages suffered by the victims - only a handful of whom survived at the time of publication - at the hands of the whites - whose surviving numbers are never known, since the participants have tended not to reveal themselves for obvious reasons. It raises questions about whether, for insurance purposes, the events should have been defined, not as a riot, but as a government action or an act of war, an invasion by a hostile army. Indeed, Greenwood resembled a war zone in some respects; read the book if you don't believe me.

Accounts differ between this and other books regarding how the events in front of the courthouse that evening of May 31, 1921 evolved into the conflagration that turned several city blocks of houses into smoking empty lots. The apparent turning point was a confrontation between a black WWI veteran who owned a grocery and an elderly white man who apparently was not too clear-headed, and acted as though he was living in pre-war (Civil, that is) days. Within a matter of seconds, scores of shots were fired, everyone hit the ground, then ran to his own side of town to re-arm, re-load, and reconnoiter.

Those couple seconds after the flurry of shots, when it became silent again, and everyone looked around at the dead and wounded, suddenly realizing that something big had happened, something bigger might (or might not?) happen, constitute one of the most dramatic event descriptions I've ever read in a history book. It calls to mind Ken Burns talking about making a recording of Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, and telling about editing the sound, coming to the very moment before Lincoln is shot, and stopping the tape. Everyone in the editing room sat looking at each other, thinking about the tremendous import of that brief moment, that pause as time gets ready to draw another breath, when things could go one way or the other, and that makes all the difference.

I can imagine being on that courthouse square with the 500 or so people just at that moment when the shooting stops, smoke hovering all around, and they all look at each other, frightened, suspicious: "Can we just walk away?" Each wonders what will happen next... And being human, they dread. Everyone runs for a gun, a knife, a club. They all pile into cars and head off to organize an army. The two sides have now engaged, battle lines been drawn, and all without anyone saying anything. That's history. What will you do if you're there next time? That's why we read history.

Rating:
Summary: So few knew
Review: From the 1880s, race relations in this country started deteriorating rapidly. Hangings, beatings, burnings took place all over the country. As rampant as such incidents were, who would have expected the same violence in Tulsa, Okla. in June 1921? It was a booming oil town, rising out of the prairie to great heights, both in money and buildings. On one side of the tracks lived the whites, many rolling in oil money. On the other side, called Greenwood, the black population, some of them rolling in money, too, earned by supplying services to those on the other side of town.

For years, a truce existed; some took for granted that it would always exist. Until the arrest of a young black man accused of assaulting a white woman in an elevator. By some, it was said to be an accident. By others, a deliberate attack. However, as events progress, the truth doesn't much matter. Emotions run too high: The blacks have no intention of letting the young man be lynched. The whites will not allow -- even fear -- interference from across the tracks. Hatred and fear drive people to action. When the dust and flames settled, nearly all of Greenwood was gone. Whites and blacks had been killed, how many, no one knows for sure. Many of the residents of Greenwood had left town for good.

This is a clear telling of events that began May 31, 1921, with the arrest of Dick Rowland for the assault on a white woman who may have been his girl friend. After all the years of keeping the story quiet, of lost accounts and memories, the number of dead can't be stated accurately. A newspaper front page, charged with helping to push Tulsans into violence, is gone. Many questions left unanswered.

The Burning is a quick read, but a story filled with horror. However, the kindness and courage of some of the residents are not left out. This, the most recent telling of the burning of Greenwood, reminds us of the dark side of our history and should help in keeping us from repeating history. It is a book for those unafraid to see the intricacies of our past, and for those who would hide from it.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting subject, poor book
Review: I frankly had never heard of the awful race riot in Tulsa on May 31 and June 1, 1921. This account is slipshoddily written by a journalist, not by a historian. The book has no footnotes and no real bibliography. So much of the account is devoted to guessing and while the book is rightly sympathetic to the black victims the account often lapses into juvenilistic maudlin journalism. The story is important, the event is full of horrific atrocities by white people, but the telling is not done well. Instead of expatiating on how awful things were I would far rather the author had laid out the facts, complete with footnotes. ...I simply have no faith that this account is objective and accurate. Sorry. I see there are other books dealing with the event...

Rating:
Summary: Interesting subject, poor book
Review: I frankly had never heard of the awful race riot in Tulsa on May 31 and June 1, 1921. This account is slipshoddily written by a journalist, not by a historian. The book has no footnotes and no real bibliography. So much of the account is devoted to guessing and while the book is rightly sympathetic to the black victims the account often lapses into juvenilistic maudlin journalism. The story is important, the event is full of horrific atrocities by white people, but the telling is not done well. Instead of expatiating on how awful things were I would far rather the author had laid out the facts, complete with footnotes. ...I simply have no faith that this account is objective and accurate. Sorry. I see there are other books dealing with the event...

Rating:
Summary: A story that needed telling
Review: I've noticed in my days as a journalist that the stories that people try hardest to hide are often those that most need to be told. This is definitely one of those stories. Madigan admits up front that he knew nothing of the the Tulsa riot when first assigned to write a story about it but he's apparently a quick learner. Starting with a newspaper feature article he went on to write this heartbreaking account of our nation's most deadly and least publicized riot. He acquits himself well, allowing the story to be told in the words of those who survived, and in some cases, participated.

Rating:
Summary: EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG?
Review: In 1921, one of the most successful black communities in the U.S. was completely destroyed by white mobs. The triggering event was a bogus accusation of assault by a white girl of questionable character against a young black man named Dick Rowland. Hundreds were killed and the landscape of Tulsa remade forever in an event that made headlines across the country, then disappeared from American consciousness until very recently. In 'The Burning,' Texas newspaper reporter Tim Madigan explores the worst race riot in America's history with both a reporter's love of detail and a writer's love of legitimate human drama.

'The Burning' almost can't help but be gripping--the subject matter is naturally captivating, and Madigan does an excellent job of placing you THERE time and time again through the eyes of various participants, both black and white. It's a very complete account, and Madigan finds a nice balance between being well-researched and all historical-ish and filling in color or details in his narrative to keep the story alive. While there are a few heroes and villains, Madigan avoids painting his characters in bold 'good guy' / 'bad guy' stereotypes. The reader is left not simply reviling white supremacists and feeling morally superior to past generations, but questioning the dark side of our humanity and hating ignorance and self-righteousness, whatever their specifics.

The book begins a little off-kilter as he sets up various approaches and backgrounds to the events to come, and I wonder if he didn't write various sections here and later in the work at different times, then simply paste them together without necessarily working them into a single consistent flow. It is at times briefly disorienting. And while the compilation of SO many first-hand experiences by different people is wonderful in terms of completeness, it occasionally feels like overkill. If this were a work of fiction, such thoroughness would be wallowing. Being as it's history, and a piece of history not yet often written about in detail, this is easily forgiven. As commented on by previous reviewers, the informal way Madigan cites sources at the end of the book is troubling, but hardly qualifies of evidence of his placing emotion over substance.

Overall, a must-read for anyone interested in Oklahoma (both of you), race relations or civil rights, sociology, or American history. While the nature of the event leaves some of Madigan's details open to future challenge, his painting of this horrific episode will not easily be forgotten.

Rating:
Summary: Balancing History & Narrative
Review: In 1921, one of the most successful black communities in the U.S. was completely destroyed by white mobs. The triggering event was a bogus accusation of assault by a white girl of questionable character against a young black man named Dick Rowland. Hundreds were killed and the landscape of Tulsa remade forever in an event that made headlines across the country, then disappeared from American consciousness until very recently. In 'The Burning,' Texas newspaper reporter Tim Madigan explores the worst race riot in America's history with both a reporter's love of detail and a writer's love of legitimate human drama.

'The Burning' almost can't help but be gripping--the subject matter is naturally captivating, and Madigan does an excellent job of placing you THERE time and time again through the eyes of various participants, both black and white. It's a very complete account, and Madigan finds a nice balance between being well-researched and all historical-ish and filling in color or details in his narrative to keep the story alive. While there are a few heroes and villains, Madigan avoids painting his characters in bold 'good guy' / 'bad guy' stereotypes. The reader is left not simply reviling white supremacists and feeling morally superior to past generations, but questioning the dark side of our humanity and hating ignorance and self-righteousness, whatever their specifics.

The book begins a little off-kilter as he sets up various approaches and backgrounds to the events to come, and I wonder if he didn't write various sections here and later in the work at different times, then simply paste them together without necessarily working them into a single consistent flow. It is at times briefly disorienting. And while the compilation of SO many first-hand experiences by different people is wonderful in terms of completeness, it occasionally feels like overkill. If this were a work of fiction, such thoroughness would be wallowing. Being as it's history, and a piece of history not yet often written about in detail, this is easily forgiven. As commented on by previous reviewers, the informal way Madigan cites sources at the end of the book is troubling, but hardly qualifies of evidence of his placing emotion over substance.

Overall, a must-read for anyone interested in Oklahoma (both of you), race relations or civil rights, sociology, or American history. While the nature of the event leaves some of Madigan's details open to future challenge, his painting of this horrific episode will not easily be forgotten.

Rating:
Summary: American History 101
Review: Prosperous and comfortable life was destroyed one fateful summer day in 1921. The Tulsa burrough of Greenwood was once a place where African-Americans thrived. It was known as the "promised land" to blacks living in the Jim Crow South, and thousands of African-Americans migrated there, searching for a better life. There they erected beauty parlors, movie theaters, restaurants, dry cleaners, and numerous other businesses. These businesses were patronized by other Greenwood residents who worked for white Tulsans, but who were not allowed to buy goods and services at white-owned establishments.

This was all brought to a screeching halt when a young black man by the name of Dick Rowland had a misleading encounter with a white woman in an elevator. The charges were ridiculous and white officials knew it. However, the officials promised Rowland his day in court. But, a leading local newspaper used yellow journalism to sell papers that day. The headline read "TO LYNCH NEGRO TONIGHT."

Greenwood blacks had heard the horrific tales of lynchings and destruction across the country. The Greenwood residents proclaimed "Not here." So, when an angry white mob gathered at the courthouse where Rowland was being held, the Greenwood people became nervous. After assembling, they decided to drive across the tracks to the white section of Tulsa armed with their rifles to make sure the mob wasn't going to carry out the headline.

Feeling as if they were being threatened by the blacks, the whites armed themselves immediately after the car left. This was the turning point, for it was no longer about Dick Rowland. It was about the perception that the blacks thought they could come into town and threaten the whites. It was about the fact that many blacks in Greenwood lived better than their white counterparts. It was about greed, it was about jealousy, and it was about hate.

Fueled by this hate, over the next two days, white Tulsans murdered over 300 black Greenwood residents. They burned homes, businesses, schools, and churches. They shot any black person they saw in the white side of town, and stacked their bodies on flatbed trucks, to be hauled to unmarked graves in the countryside. The Greenwood townspeople did not give up without a fight, however. They defended their homes and community with fervor. But they were outnumbered and outgunned and soon, Greenwood was nothing but ash, a shadow of its former existence.

Tim Madigan writes a comprehensive account of the maelstrom that occured those days in Oklahoma. He uses personal interviews, historical documents, oral histories, and narration to bring The Burning together. The book reads like fiction, the interviewees and survivors have strong voices, and even those who witnessed the destruction, but have since passed, have their say against the tragedy that was The Burning. Everyone should know about what happened in Tulsa. It is as much part of our history as the Revolutionary War or the Watts Riots. Madigan provides an excellent vehicle for this discovery.

Reviewed by Candace K

Rating:
Summary: Tulsa's Nightmare
Review: Tim Madigan's lively, vivid and long over-due account of the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 is a journalistic treasure. As one who originally hailed from Kansas and had been in and out of Tulsa twice a year since 1947, I was certainly familiar with the Oil Capitol; thus, Madigan's book spoke to me from the book rack. However, I found myself frustrated by the lack of a map of the Greenwood area. I actually had to buy a map of Tulsa and sit down with underlined passages in order to recreate exactly where Greenwood was. This is not the author's fault but it certainly is the fault of his editor at Thomas Dunne Books. (Too be honest, other books about the same subject also see maps as expendible). In any case you can smell the smoke in Madigan's account and you get a viseral reaction to the whole sad scene. The book is tangible proof that Ben Jonson was correct when he said that "Sunlight is the best solvent."

Rating:
Summary: Madigan`s "The Burning" --riveting , important U.S. history
Review: Up to this point, Tulsa native Scott Ellsworth's "Death In a Promised Land" has been the best book on the Tulsa Massacre of 1921, but Tim Madigan has done an excellent job with this story. Ellsworth's (who graciously gave Madigan assistance with this volume) book on this subject was written in a scholarly "matter of factly" tone, well-written and long on historical detail but somewhat short of passion for the subject. Madign gets deep into the emotions of the people behind the events and trasforms this detail into a story that the readers can identify with. The details and excellent use of primary sources makes it hard to beleive that it only took a year to write this book! Historians and casual readers will both find this book interesting (if extremely sad) reading. However, the ending does say much for the triumph of the human spirit and the book does give and interesting lesson to the depths and heights of human behavior.

You may still want to check out Ellworth's book for a primary introduction to the subject, as it goes a bit deeper into the background of Tulsa to understand the events. But overall, Madigan's work is as of now the best book on this subject.