Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1921-06-11
THE OKLAHOMA SLAUGHTER

The latest news from Tulsa, Okla
homa, the scene OF the recent tragic
happenings shows that the whole at-
fair was massacre, II slaughter OF
in-oflensive colorcd people. 1t seems
that colorcd man used disrcspcc,.
full language to white girl and she
got angry and excited. lie did not crun
inaly assault her In fact the mat
ter was not worth the time it takes
to talk about it. Negotiating white
men assembled to lynch the colorod
youngstcr and colored men assembled
TO prevent the lynching. The report
was given out that these colored mon
were attempting to take the colorcl
man ont of the jail, when, us II mat.
ter Of fact, ;hcy were attempting to
do nothing OF the kind.
When the law.css white clements
got busy, they exercised their antipa-
thy to colorcd people by shooting
down co.orod people, wherever seen.
Ivy bhSh dppIiCu lOIClcS 20 lllC
houses in the colored district, burn.
ing millions of dollars worth Of prop
erty, much OF which was insured in
white insurance companies. Even
church, recently completed at cost
Of eighty.five thousand dollars was
burned down. Many colorcd people
were caught like rats in a trap ana
burned alive. Some were said to
have been thrown into the river.
Then reaction took place. White
citizens, who were employing colorel
people found their help gone Fair
white ladies who had formed an az.
tachmcnt for their colored servants
aroused their husbands and fathers
to action and troops were rushed III
by the Governor OF Oklahoma and tue
Mayor and other local authorities dis
credited. Respectful law-abiding cot
orcd people exc, ted their influence
and the better class Of white people
came to their assistance. It was too
late. The damage had been done. Tie
good name Of the community had
been forever Eesmirched and the town
is virtually in sack.cloth and ashes.
Now comes the investigation and talk
about the punishment of the crimi-
nails.
What far-seeing white and colorpd
people and forcsecn for months anu
days had come to pass. The backen-
cd waste in Tulsa, emphasized the
fact that such an occurrence was liab.e
to take place again in many other 10.
calitics with the result that white
people would eventually suffer along
with the colorcd. This condition of
affairs cannot be chargeable to whis-
key for during the worst days Of
King Alcohol, no such horrible hoIo.
caust took place. Killing OF colored
people, as rule has been confined
to the people charged with the crime,
except in the case at East st. Louis,
where the same kind of racial antjpn-
But this happening was virtually
in the North. There are many remedies
being suggested. The Department Of
Justice, at one time known to some
rs the Department of "Injustice" has
decided to investigate the happening
with n view to deciding whether a
federal question is involved. But this
department has no time for this
Kind of business. Seven million dol.
lars have been appropriated to pre-.
vent whiskey drinking, but not one
dollar has been appropriated to pre-
vent downright murder. 1t is a piti-
able condition of affairs. Colored
people are an object OF pity in their
helplessness. 1t may not do to say 1t,
but the race will some day wake up
to the fact that their future is in their
own hand. They must learn to pro.
tect themselves and their property
and after this is done, if 1t causes
them to take the lives of their would
be murdnrers, lot them fight on to the