Of all the cities to re-start campaign rallies, Donald Trump has chosen the one with the worst single incident of racial violence in U.S. history. The Trump campaign announced today that the first post-pandemic rally would be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 19th.
In 1921, 99 years ago this month, white men invaded Greenwood, the affluent African-American section of Tulsa.
CNN writes, “In a span of just 24 hours, 35 square blocks were burned and over 1,200 houses destroyed. Contemporary reports of deaths began at 36, but historians now believe as many as 300 people died, according to the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum.“
But what made the massacre even worse was that it was rarely acknowledged and never taught in schools, until recently. Authorities in Tulsa continue to investigate the whereabouts of victims’ bodies.
The date too is significant. June 19th or Juneteenth is the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. It is celebrated as Independence Day for African-Americans, according to the New York Times.
