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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 11:02am | IP Logged | 1 post reply
A bit like the Watchmen tv series in that regard - the racist scenes of that series were horrifying.

••

I was surprised by how many of my American friends were completely unaware of the horrors in Tulsa. Even in Canada I'd heard of that.

(A classic example, I suppose, of WHAT we learn being heavily influenced by WHERE we learn.)

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Dave Kopperman
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 1:32pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply
 JB wrote:
I was surprised by how many of my American friends were completely unaware of the horrors in Tulsa.

Man, but our American education on the history of race in this country is DEEPLY FUCKED. It's a combination of deliberate whitewashing and unconscious support.  Even super-benign and positive shit gets left out.  

Speaking of "where we learn," the town I live in - Tappan, NY - goes waaay back, and our Town Historical Society put out a coffee-table book celebrating the 300th anniversary back in the 80's, focusing on all the usual things; Major Andre was tried and executed here, George Washington slept here, we have the oldest still-in-use tavern in the U.S., etc.

Years later, I got a bug up my ass to read local history, and I was gobsmacked to read in a more thorough and scholarly book on the history of the Hudson River Valley that the town was actually founded by (quoting, here, from the original land patent with the spelling as I remember it): "five white men and three free negroews from Greenuich Village."  It's unclear whether these were former slaves, indentured servants, or freemen.*

How is it that I got to be an adult in my small town without anyone ever having mentioned that fact?  I think that's the meaning of the title "The Invisible Man" - not only does America forgive itself and ignore its past sins with regard to race, we also casually elide any presence of African-Americans throughout our history.  Which was foundational, in this case. 1680 is long enough ago that it's a fair bet that almost no-one on this board could claim to an American lineage that goes back as far.

*In what I hope is a sign of progress, the town historical society has corrected that info on their website.


Edited by Dave Kopperman on 17 August 2020 at 1:33pm
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John Byrne
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Grumpy Old Guy

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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 2:07pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply
Grace Metalious invoked something similar in her novel, PEYTON PLACE. The “unusual” name of the town is commented upon several times, until she reveals the history.

The lily white town of Peyton Place takes its name from a crumbling old castle on a hill above, once locally referred to as “the Peyton Place”. To the great discomfort of the White townsfolk, the castle had been shipped over stone by stone by an escaped slave, Peyton, who had found his way to Europe and there made a fortune. So the town was named, somewhat obliquely, “after a n****r.” (Ms Metalious did not use asterisks.)

Your story now makes me wonder if there was a kernel of truth in her tale.

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James Johnson
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply
For the most part during my K-12 years (1970 - 1983) the topics that were taught regarding Black History (that somehow, when presented, always fell in February) were kind of condensed to the following:

Africans were captured by white slave traders

Brought to North America and sold as slaves

Worked in cotton fields

Harriet Tubman led escaped slaves to freedom via The Undergroud Railroad

Civil War freed the slaves

George Washington Carver did good things with the peanut

Brown vs. Board of Education

MLK was good

Civil Rights Marches

Malcolm X was sort of a bad black man.

MLK was shot.

Any other bits of Black History I learned during my time in public school may have been sparked from watching ROOTS(and ROOTS: The Next Generation) that I researched at my local library (if the books were there).


I did not learn of the Tulsa massacre until the mid 1990's. That was from a black co-worker of mine who had relocated to the east coast from Oklahoma. 

Blew me away.

It taught me that if folks don't stand up for what's right, something like this can happen again.....


...and again.....

...and again.....
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James Woodcock
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 3:04pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply
I learned of the Tulsa massacre from Watchmen. My excuse is I’m from
the U.K.

There are loads of similar things I know nothing about in the US, the
U.K. & elsewhere.

It’s a poor excuse.
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James Johnson
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 3:12pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply
In this age of smartphone proliferation, folks have access to just about anything.

Now, whether that information is accurate, that's another issue.

 ;-)
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John Byrne
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 3:14pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply
My house in Fairfield, built in 1845, was reputed to have been part of the underground railroad. No real proof, just a long standing tradition.

Felt good about it, anyway.

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Dave Kopperman
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 3:19pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply
At a corporate event a couple of years back, I had the dubious honor of informing my increasingly shocked tablemates from our UK offices about the 3/5 Compromise.
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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply
Mr. Byrne - I would revel in it anyhow, were I you. I have to figure that, were my house a stop on the Underground Railroad (and you better bet that it would have been!), I would do my utmost to "Clark Kent" it - make it unnoticeable and unremarkable. There might not be a lot of evidence that it was a stop.

However, knowing a bit about you, I've no doubt that you would have made your home a waystation on the railroad. Fuck the Bad Byrne stories... you seem like a good and honorable man. I know you would have done what's right.
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Paul Kimball
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 4:52pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply
I was surprised by how many of my American friends were completely unaware
of the horrors in Tulsa. Even in Canada I'd heard of that.
+++++++++++

I grew up in Oklahoma and I can promise it was not taught in school so not
surprising it's unknown to many people. Evan when it was brought up(outside
of school) it was referred to as "the black riots" as if perhaps it was black
people causing problems. Which I guess they were in a sense, being too
successful.
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Peter Hicks
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 5:51pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply
I live in Canada, and did not hear about the Tulsa Massacre until the controversy when tRump wanted to hold his rally on the same date.

tRump said lots of people found about the Tulsa Massacre purely because of his rescheduled rally.   I have to admit in my case that was true.
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John Byrne
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Posted: 17 August 2020 at 6:48pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

However, knowing a bit about you, I've no doubt that you would have made your home a waystation on the railroad. Fuck the Bad Byrne stories... you seem like a good and honorable man. I know you would have done what's right.

•••

Thank you for that. You have a higher opinion of me than I do!

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