First Writing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

First Writing Assignment - Essay Example Most members of the Black community were also left homeless as their residences had been destroyed by the whites during the riots that had been racially motivated. Oklahoma had passed state legislation that entrenched racial segregation while its constitution disfranchised most blacks from voting or serving in juries or administrative duties. On August 16, 1916, Tulsa had passed an ordinance that forbade blacks or whites from taking residence in a block in which three quarters were members of the other race, a law which had been found to be illegal by the Supreme Court. After the First World War, the veterans, especially those from the Black community, started fighting for their civil rights mainly through racially motivated riots. On Monday, May 30, 1921 which was Memorial Day, Dick Rowland, a shoe shiner of black origin was alleged to have assaulted or in some versions raped Sarah Page, a while elevator operator and reported to the authorities. The authorities conducted an investigation which, was low key in manner but Rowland due to fear went into hiding in the Greenwood neighborhood where his mother stayed though Page was not pressing for any charges. This happening brought about a lot of debate about what happened with the Tulsa Tribune, sensationalizing the matter and demanding for the nabbing, and if possible the lynching of Rowland. There was also a stand-off at the Tulsa County Courthouse where the white people had gathered with intention to lynch Rowland. The black community in the nearby Greenwood Avenue also mobilized themselves in an attempt to protect Rowland from any lynching that the white community intended to commit. With both communities, the white and the black armed, they surrounded the co urthouse despite being told to go back to their homes and avoid any act of confrontation or acts of violence.