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waynediane's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing story of the Tulsa Race riots and insecurity of being white and somewhat privileged. Madigan did his homework with amazing details of how all of this had been a melting pot - stirred by yellow journalism and one ambitious editor.
jenellinwood's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
misterbiscuits's review against another edition
5.0
Like most Oklahomans, I had never heard this story before just a few years ago. My grandparents would have had living memory of this. Especially since they lived within a stones throw of Tulsa.
I don't have much else to say that Madigan doesn't say better.
I don't have much else to say that Madigan doesn't say better.
themartinmama's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
I and to take breaks from reading but also to tell my husband how much harder the story was than I even knew. And still shocked most America didn't even hear about the massacre for nearly 100 years after it happened. Soon after it happened one elderly Black woman said to a white female journalist, "How could it NOT have happened?!" meaning racism was always bound to harm the community of Greenwood. But it leaves me asking how could it NOT have happened as how do we prevent it from ever happening again??
ryan_oneil's review
5.0
This is the story of the death of 300 or more Americans and the destruction of 35 city blocks. It is the story of the people who lived there and the people who committed the violence.
In 1921, a large section of Tulsa was burned to the ground and 300 or more Black residents were killed by the city's white residents. The white people looted and then burned the entire Black section of Tulsa. Why? It essentially came down to "because."
The author doesn't flinch in telling the brutal, horrific story. In that way, I felt that was an act of compassion toward the victims.
In the aftermath, a white reporter was talking with an elderly woman who born into slavery and had subsequently survived the violence in Tulsa. The reporter remarks, "How could this happen?" and the elderly woman replies, "How could it not?"
The author does a great job of personalizing the tragedy while also putting it into a broader context. He also, although more briefly, tells the story of the attempt to deny that this massacre happened.
In 1921, a large section of Tulsa was burned to the ground and 300 or more Black residents were killed by the city's white residents. The white people looted and then burned the entire Black section of Tulsa. Why? It essentially came down to "because."
The author doesn't flinch in telling the brutal, horrific story. In that way, I felt that was an act of compassion toward the victims.
In the aftermath, a white reporter was talking with an elderly woman who born into slavery and had subsequently survived the violence in Tulsa. The reporter remarks, "How could this happen?" and the elderly woman replies, "How could it not?"
The author does a great job of personalizing the tragedy while also putting it into a broader context. He also, although more briefly, tells the story of the attempt to deny that this massacre happened.