African Americans in Oklahoma

Last updated

African Americans in Oklahoma
Oklahoma Sharecroppers-1914.jpg
Elderly African American Sharecroppers in 1914
Total population
289,961 (7.8% of the population)

African Americans in Oklahoma or Black Oklahomans are residents of the state of Oklahoma who are of African American ancestry. African Americans have a rich history in Oklahoma. [1] [2] An estimated 7.8% of Oklahomans are Black as of the 2020 census, constituting 289,961 individuals. [3]

Contents

African-Americans first settled in Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears. While many of these people were enslaved Africans, around 500 chose to do so in order to escape slavery. [4] During the 19th century, pre-statehood Oklahoma was viewed as desirable for settlement by African-Americans seeking political freedom in the American Frontier. [5] Prior to the institution of Jim Crow laws, multiple Black Oklahomans had served in the territorial legislature. [5]

Oklahoma began instituting Jim Crow legislation in 1897, banning miscegenation and segregating Oklahoma's schools. Racism against Black Oklahomans has been common throughout the state's history, manifesting itself in scenarios such as the Tulsa race massacre, which targeted members of Tulsa's affluent African-American Greenwood District. [6] Today, 13 of the over-50 settlements founded by Black Oklahomans still exist. [7]

History

19th century: Black people in the "Twin Territories"

Staff at the American Red Cross disaster relief headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after the Tulsa race massacre of June 1921 African American workers detail, Headquarters staff, American Red Cross Disaster Relief Hdqs., Tulsa, Okla., after the race riot of June 1921 LCCN2011661526 (cropped) (cropped).tif
Staff at the American Red Cross disaster relief headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after the Tulsa race massacre of June 1921

Black slaves came with their Native American slave owners during the Trail of Tears to their new territorial home in Oklahoma beginning in the 1830s. [1] Later in the 19th century, groups of African Americans would migrate to the Oklahoma Territory in the hopes of securing political freedoms. [8]

New York-born Edward P. McCabe, who founded the town of Langston, led a movement to create a Black-majority state in Oklahoma, and pushed for settlement in both the "Twin Territories" of Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory. [5] McCabe described the region as a "mecca" for Black Americans seeking freedom from oppression. [9]

The Land Run of 1889 led to a sizable increase in African-American settlers in the Indian Territory. Prior to this migration, around 8,000 freedmen lived in the Indian Territory. [10] The increase in Oklahoma's Black population during the Land Run of 1889 was preceded by a similar migration of African Americans to Kansas. [11] Oklahoma is believed to have had the highest population of Black homesteaders of any state. [10]

Tensions would arise at times in the late 19th century in the Twin Territories between Black tribal members and African-American settlers from elsewhere. Creek freedmen would reportedly refer to Black settlers as "state negroes", leading to tensions in towns like Boley, an all-black town founded by settlers. Conversely, there were instances of local Black newspapers founded by settlers criticizing Native American freedmen for selling their land allotments to white settlers. [8]

Two Black Oklahomans, Green I. Currin and David J. Wallace, were elected to the territorial legislature. [5] As late as 1900, it was common for Black and white students in Oklahoma to attend the same schools. [8]

1897-1950s: Jim Crow period

Beginning in 1897, the territorial legislature and its successor, the state legislature, enacted Jim Crow laws to restrict African Americans' rights. A total of 18 Jim Crow laws were passed from 1897 until 1957, including laws segregating Oklahoma schools. [12] Miscegenation between white and Black Oklahomas was made a felony subject to five years imprisonment, with a 1921 law banning marriage between Black Oklahomans and Native Americans. [12]

The Edmond Sun noted in 1905 that Oklahoma's Jim Crow laws were extraordinarily strict, even by the standards of the time, stating "Probably no other state or territory has built a stronger barrier against mixed schools". [13] In response to increased oppression, around 1,000 Black Oklahomans chose to migrate to the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta between 1905 to 1911. [14]

Racial violence

On May 25, 1911, the lynching of Laura and L. D. Nelson, an African-American mother and her child, occurred in Okfuskee County. The Nelsons were among the 75 documented victims of lynching in Oklahoma that took place between 1877 to 1950. [15]

In 1921, members of Tulsa's Greenwood District (nicknamed "Black Wall Street"), home to a large number of African-American businesses, was targeted in the Tulsa race massacre. [6] Considered among the worst incidents of racial violence in American history, it had an estimated death toll between 100 and 300. [16] In the aftermath of the massacre, over 6,000 Black Oklahomans were detained by National Guard agents in internment camps. [17]

1958-present: Civil Rights era and post-segregation period

During the civil rights movement, activists including Clara Luper led stage-ins to protest segregation, with Luper leading the 1958 sit-in movement in Oklahoma City. [18] Desegregation would begin in the 1960s, with the Oklahoma City government banning businesses from discriminating on the basis of race in June 1964, a month before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. [19]

The predominantly African-American Deep Deuce neighborhood of Oklahoma City was bulldozed in the 1980s to make way for construction of the I-235. [20]

Following the end of segregation, Oklahoma City Public School District would remain under court order to institute busing until 1991. [21] In 1990, Republican J. C. Watts would be elected to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, becoming the first African-American to win statewide office. [22] In 2013, Republican T. W. Shannon would become the first African-American to serve as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. [23]

Tulsa race massacre recognition efforts

Beginning in 2002, the Tulsa race massacre (known as the "Tulsa Race Riot") became permitted to be taught in Oklahoma public schools. This marked a shift with the state's approach in past decades, which prohibited its instruction in public schools.

However, an investigation found that many Oklahoma students graduated without learning of the massacre, even after 2012 state standards required more specific language surrounding the event. [16] In 2021, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission was formed. [24]

Economic conditions

Inequalities continue to persist in the 21st century, with Black children in Oklahoma estimated in 2019 to be almost six times more likely to live in concentrated poverty than white peers. [25]

All-black towns

Entirely black towns and neighborhoods were historically common in Oklahoma. From 1865 to 1920, African Americans founded over 50 all-black towns and settlements in the Indian Territory. [26] The Land Run of 1889 contributed to the settlement of African American towns in modern Oklahoma. [27] Thirteen African American towns still exist. [28] [7]

This is a list of all remaining African American towns in Oklahoma:

Black newspapers

A list of historically black-owned/edited newspapers, serving primarily black communities, established in Oklahoma. [29]

Notable residents

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma</span> U.S. state

Oklahoma is a state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northeast, Arkansas to the east, New Mexico to the west, and Colorado to the northwest. Partially in the western extreme of the Upland South, it is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. Its residents are known as Oklahomans and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla, 'people' and humma, which translates as 'red'. Oklahoma is also known informally by its nickname, "The Sooner State", in reference to the Sooners, American settlers who staked their claims in formerly American Indian-owned lands until the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 authorized the Land Rush of 1889 opening the land to settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulsa race massacre</span> 1921 mass violence in Oklahoma, U.S.

The Tulsa race massacre, also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre, was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place between May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents, some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials, attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood—at the time, one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States, colloquially known as "Black Wall Street."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langston, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Langston is a town in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,619 as of the 2020 United States census. Langston is home to Langston University, the only historically black college in Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boley, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Boley is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,091 at the 2020 Census. Boley was incorporated in 1905 as a predominantly Black pioneer town with persons having Native American ancestry among its citizens. Boley is currently home to barbeque equipment maker, Smokaroma, Inc, and the John Lilley Correctional Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clearview, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Clearview is a town in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 41 at the 2020 Census. It was historically an all-black freedmen's town and was platted by the Lincoln Townsite Company and designated as Lincoln.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lima, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Lima is a town in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. It is one of the thirteen remaining historically All-Black towns in the state. The population was 68 at the time of the 2020 census, a 28.3% increase over 2010s figure of 53.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tullahassee, Oklahoma</span> Town in Oklahoma, United States

Tullahassee is a town in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 106 in both the 2010 and the 2000 censuses. It was the location of Tullahassee Mission, an Indian boarding school that burned in 1880. Because their population in the community had declined, the Muscogee Creek gave the school to Creek Freedmen, paying to replace the main building, and relocated with their families to the area of Wealaka Mission.

Greenwood is a historic freedom colony in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As one of the most prominent concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States during the early 20th century, it was popularly known as America's "Black Wall Street". It was burned to the ground in the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, in which a local white mob gathered and attacked the area. Between 75 and 300 Americans were killed, hundreds more were injured, and the homes of 5000 were destroyed, leaving them homeless. The massacre was one of the largest in the history of U.S. race relations, destroying the once-thriving Greenwood community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Oklahoma</span> Oklahoma Politics

The politics of Oklahoma exists in a framework of a presidential republic modeled after the United States. The governor of Oklahoma is both head of state and head of government, and of a pluriform two-party system. Executive power is exercised by the governor and the government. Legislative power is vested in the governor and the bicameral Oklahoma Legislature. Judicial power is vested in the judiciary of Oklahoma. The political system is laid out in the 1907 Oklahoma Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oklahoma Republican Party</span> Oklahoma affiliate of the Republican Party

The Oklahoma Republican Party is an Oklahoma political party affiliated with the Republican Party. Along with the Oklahoma Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Oklahoma</span>

The history of Oklahoma refers to the history of the state of Oklahoma and the land that the state now occupies. Areas of Oklahoma east of its panhandle were acquired in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, while the Panhandle was not acquired until the U.S. land acquisitions following the Mexican–American War (1846–1848).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward P. McCabe</span> American political leader and attorney (1850–1920)

Edward P. McCabe, also known as Edwin P. McCabe, was a settler, attorney and land agent who became one of the first African Americans to hold a major political office in the American Old West. A Republican office-holder in Kansas, McCabe became a leading figure in an effort to stimulate a black migration into what was then the territory of Oklahoma, with the hopes of creating a majority-black state that would be free of the white domination that was prevalent throughout the Southern United States. In pursuit of this goal, McCabe founded the city of Langston, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thlopthlocco Tribal Town</span> Ethnic group

Thlopthlocco Tribal Town is both a federally recognized Native American tribe and a traditional township of Muscogee Creek Indians, based in Oklahoma. The tribe's native language is Mvskoke, also called Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regina Goodwin</span> American politician

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The Katz Drug Store sit-in was one of the first sit-ins during the civil rights movement, occurring between August 19 and August 21, 1958, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In protest of racial discrimination, black schoolchildren sat at a lunch counter with their teacher demanding food, refusing to leave until they were served. They sought to end the racial segregation of eating places in their city, sparking a sit-in movement in Oklahoma City that lasted for years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma</span>

The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the five U.S. representatives from the state of Oklahoma, one from each of the state's five congressional districts. The primary elections for the Republican. Democratic, and Libertarian parties' nominations took place on June 28, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Oklahoma Senate election</span>

The 2022 Oklahoma Senate general election were held on November 8, 2022. The primary elections for the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian parties' nominations took place on June 28, 2022. Runoff primary elections, if no candidate received 50% in the June 28 vote, took place on August 23. All candidates had to file between the days of April 13–15, 2022. Oklahoma voters elected state senators in 24 of the state's 48 Senate districts. State senators served four-year terms in the Oklahoma Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Walters (politician)</span> American politician

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References

  1. 1 2 "African Americans". Oklahoma Historical Society .
  2. ↑ "Black History is Oklahoma History". Oklahoma Historical Society . Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  3. ↑ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Oklahoma". www.census.gov. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "African American History & Culture in Oklahoma". TravelOK.com - Oklahoma's Official Travel & Tourism Site. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "African Americans | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  6. 1 2 Huddleston, Tom Jr. (4 July 2020). "'Black Wall Street': The history of the wealthy Black community and the massacre perpetrated there 100 years ago". CNBC. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  7. 1 2 Young, Marcus (15 October 2021). "All-Black Towns of Oklahoma". State Historic Preservation Office . Retrieved 30 December 2021– via ArcGIS Story Maps.
  8. 1 2 3 Luckerson, Victor (17 March 2021). "The Unrealized Promise of Oklahoma". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  9. ↑ Moore, Evan F. (16 July 2020). "This land is my land". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  10. 1 2 Eaton, Kristi (14 March 2023). "Study Explores Less Known Role of Western Black Homesteaders". The Daily Yonder. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  11. ↑ Littlefield, Daniel F.; Underhill, Lonnie E. (1973). "Black Dreams and "Free" Homes: The Oklahoma Territory, 1891-1894". Phylon. 34 (4): 342. doi:10.2307/274249. ISSN   0031-8906.
  12. 1 2 "Jim Crow Laws in Oklahoma". The Oklahoman. 13 February 2005. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  13. ↑ "Jim Crow Laws In Edmond". Edmond History Museum. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  14. ↑ Flanagan, Tom (9 August 2023). "Finding Freedom: Black Oklahomans in White Alberta". C2C Journal. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  15. ↑ "May 24, 1911 | White Mob in Oklahoma Abducts and Lynches Laura Nelson and Her Young Son". Equal Justice Initiative. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  16. 1 2 Martinez-Keel, Nuria (26 May 2021). "'A conspiracy of silence': Tulsa Race Massacre was absent from schools for generations". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  17. ↑ Parshina-Kottas, Yuliya; Singhvi, Anjali; Burch, Audra D. S.; Griggs, Troy; Gröndahl, Mika; Huang, Lingdong; Wallace, Tim; White, Jeremy; Williams, Josh (24 May 2021). "What the Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "Clara Luper: A Leader in Desegregation's Sit-in Movement | About the Hero". Lowell Milken Center. 5 January 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  19. ↑ Hall, Richard (5 February 2015). "5 things about Oklahoma's civil rights movement you should know". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  20. ↑ Bruton, Anjelicia (23 February 2022). "Deep Roots Of Deep Deuce: Former Residents Remember Neighborhood They Were Forced To Leave". News 9. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  21. ↑ "Busing | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  22. ↑ Eilperin, Juliet (12 May 1998). "Watts Walks a Tightrope on Affirmative Action". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 August 2024. Raised in a family of Democrats, Watts declared that the party had taken blacks for granted and switched to the GOP, becoming the first African American elected statewide when he became one of Oklahoma's three corporation commissioners in 1990.
  23. ↑ "Shannon elected 1st black Oklahoma House speaker". Peoria Journal Star. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  24. ↑ Brown, DeNeen L. (30 May 2021). "Tensions erupt in Tulsa as city commemorates 1921 race massacre". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  25. ↑ Fine, Rebecca (24 September 2019). "Black and Latino children in Oklahoma are still more likely to live in concentrated poverty - Oklahoma Policy Institute". Oklahoma Policy Institute. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  26. ↑ Simpson, April (17 October 2023). "In Oklahoma's Black Belt, land ownership and power built Black wealth". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  27. ↑ "Oklahoma: Home to More Historically All-Black Towns than Any Other U.S. State". Oklahoma Center for the Humanities. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  28. ↑ "Throwback Tulsa: The 13 historic all-Black towns that remain in Oklahoma". Tulsa World. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  29. ↑ "African-American Newspapers". The Gateway to Oklahoma History. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  30. ↑ Brockell, Gillian (2 April 2019). "Chicago elected its first Black woman mayor. Lelia Foley-Davis knows what that feels like". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  31. ↑ "Connie Johnson Wins Dem Primary For Oklahoma Senate". CBS Local. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
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