June 03, 2021

By Quinci LeGardye

California Black Media

May 31-June 1, 2021, marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in American history.

The Black community in Tulsa, known as the Greenwood District, which has been referred to as the “Black Wall Street,” was decimated by a heavily armed White mob, with as many as 300 unconfirmed deaths of Black residents and property losses totaling about $27 million in today’s dollars. The murder, the unlawfulness, the catastrophe, the immorality, the untold suffering borne by innocent people experienced during the race massacre is emblematic of the devastation and destruction that happened in countless majority-Black towns in American history.

In 1921, Greenwood was a thriving neighborhood of about 10,000 residents, which included Black-owned homes, grocery stores, hotels, nightclubs, billiard halls, theaters, doctor’s offices and churches. The area also had a Black-owned-and-operated newspaper called the Tulsa Star. The decimation of Black Wall Street was set in motion after Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old Black man was accused of sexually assaulting Sarah Page, a 17-year-old White woman, on May 30, 1921.

The next day, a scuffle between a White mob aiming to Lynch Rowland and a group of armed Black men protecting him set off the massacre.

The standoff led to the White mob attacking Greenwood near dawn on June 1.

When they attacked, members of the White mob, some of whom had been deputized by city officials, shot Black people in the streets, ransacked homes, and set fires block by block. White pilots flew airplanes and dropped turpentine or nitroglycerin bombs on the neighborhood. As many as 300 Black people were killed and hundreds of others were injured. At least 8,000 Black Tulsans were left homeless and 6,000 were detained in internment camps. A 2001 Oklahoma state commission report found that the massacre led to $1.8 million in property loss claims from the residents of Greenwood.

A grand jury later blamed the Black men for the riots, though no one was ever charged with a crime. Rowland was later exonerated when Page failed to appear as a witness, and authorities concluded that Rowland most likely tripped and stepped on Page’s foot.

The Tulsa Race Massacre has become more well-known in mainstream America due to depictions on the popular HBO shows Watchmen and Lovecraft Country. Lovecraft Country recounted the events in depth, including portraying scenes with a family as they tried to protect their home. Watchmen offered a revisionist history of the Tulsa massacre. In that retelling, the descendants of the victims of the massacre received reparations and established new businesses in Greenwood.

Most grade schools in the United States, including those in Tulsa, do not teach children about the massacre.

The residents of Greenwood were resilient after the massacre, despite most of their insurance claims being denied due to the massacre being designated a race riot. After 1921, Greenwood was rebuilt, and thrived as a business district from the 1930s to the 1950s, though not at the same scale. In the 1960s, many of the houses and businesses were claimed by the city through eminent domain for the purpose of blight removal, and a highway was built through the heart of Greenwood.

Three known survivors of the massacre testified before a congressional committee considering reparations for survivors and descendants of the massacre on May 19. Viola Ford Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis and Lessie Benningfield Randle were children in 1921 and are now 107, 100 and 106, respectively. In their testimonies, they recalled their lives before the attack, which felt safe and prosperous, as well as the events of that night.

“I will never forget the violence of the White mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day. My country may forget this history, but I cannot,” said Fletcher.

Fletcher, Ellis and Randle are plaintiffs in a reparation lawsuit levied against Tulsa city and county officials by survivors of the massacre and their descendants.  They accuse Tulsa officials of enriching themselves by decrying the massacre while trying to turn the remains of Greenwood into a tourist attraction. The lawsuit also accuses city and county officials of implementing zoning ordinances that kept Black business owners and residents from rebuilding and diverting public funds to predominantly White neighborhoods instead of predominately Black Greenwood and North Tulsa.

There is a straight line that runs from the horrors and injustices of the 1921 race massacre to the plight of the struggling Black community in Tulsa today – as is the case in many American cities.  Black communities across America are still reeling from the effects of blatant acts of racial hatred and violence, including Jim Crow laws, redlining and the construction of highways through Black neighborhoods.

Americans of all races and backgrounds all over the United States must stand with Greenwood in its current fight for reparations.  The outcome will serve as blueprint to address the incredible losses of life and property Black communities all over the country have suffered throughout our country’s history.

April 15, 2021

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.

President and CEO,

National Newspaper Publishers Association

The COVID-19 pandemic across America and throughout the world is still a serious danger to public health for all communities, but especially for African American and other people of color communities. African Americans are still disproportionately negatively impacted by this deadly virus.

This is why more COVID-19 testing for Black America is so important in 2021: African Americans comprise 13% of the U.S. population, but more than half of all COVID-19 cases, and nearly 60% of all COVID-related deaths in the U.S., were in cities with large Black populations. Now that federal-government approved vaccines are available, it does not mean that COVID-19 testing is no longer needed.

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) is very concerned about the current state of health disparities and inequities that are realities for the majority of African Americans. Facts, data, and truth about the pandemic are vital to our future.

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, a majority of Black Americans (61%) now say they plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine (or that they’ve already received one), compared to only 42% in November, 2020. As trust increases, we need to also increase access to COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in our communities to create better health outcomes.

The Black Press and the Black Church are two fundamental trusted institutions in our communities. We are pleased to learn about a new emerging partnership with Black church leaders which is creating greater access to much-needed COVID-19 testing in our communities. A partnership between Quest Diagnostics, Choose Healthy Life and the United Way of New York City is bringing COVID-19 testing and education to Black communities in cities across the U.S., and they are working with trusted voices in Black churches to increase participation.

The pandemic has also made it even clearer that Black Americans need access to additional resources to take control of their health. In Chicago for example, Black residents make up 30% of the population but account for 70% of COVID-related deaths, and the majority of Black COVID-19 patients who have died in Chicago also had underlying health conditions, like respiratory problems, hypertension, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, heart disease is the leading cause of death for Black Americans, and Black people experience risk factors that contribute to heart disease like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol more often and earlier in life compared to White people. Thus, overall healthcare testing is needed throughout Black America.

Getting tested for important health issues - and understanding the results - empowers people to make informed and sometimes critical healthcare decisions. In fact, 70% of medical decisions are based on results from diagnostic tests.

Because there aren’t always obvious symptoms of a health issue, testing is one of the most effective ways to identify health concerns that may need to be addressed.

Quest Diagnostics is committed to creating partnerships with others to increase access in Black and other underserved communities. It’s time for the entire healthcare system to step up with similar commitments – with access to treatment and preventative care – to help Black communities move past this pandemic on an even ground with White America. Access, testing, and equity are keys to achieving and maintaining good health for all.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), and Executive Producer and host of The Chavis Chronicles (TCC) on PBS TV stations weekly across the United States.

April 01, 2021

By Joe W. Bowers Jr.

California Black Media

A year ago, K-12 education was closed across California as part of an effort to mitigate the spread of the COVID -19 virus. 

At that time, it was assumed that children could be a primary driver of the virus like they are Influenza A. It took a few months, but health officials determined that COVID -19 is not a pediatric driven pandemic.

Young kids can get the virus, but they are not significant transmitters. Most experience mild or no symptoms and while some might have to be hospitalized, death is rare for children. Children under 15 have a lower risk of dying from COVID-19 than dying from the flu or suicide. A side effect of the virus is a serious and rare illness called multisystem inflammatory syndrome or MIS-C, which can be fatal or cause lasting heart damage.

In states where schools have restarted in person classes, data show levels of transmission of the virus is much lower than in the surrounding community when strict safety protocols developed by public health officials have been adopted. The safety protocols include universal masking, basic hand hygiene, classroom ventilation, maintaining increased physical distance, and contact tracing. 

While guidelines for the safe opening of schools have been available for months from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the 58 California county health departments, according to federal data California has lagged other states in offering in-person instruction to students. 18 % of California schools offer in-person learning compared to all schools in Florida and 62 % in Connecticut. Schools in California have not been able to open while their county was in the most restrictive purple tier indicating high case rates of COVID-19.

Many school districts including Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified have recently announced plans to make in-person instruction available to students who want it. President Biden has been pushing for all K-8 schools to open by May 1 which is the 100th day of his administration. As part of the push to safely reopen schools the Biden administration is allocating about $125 Billion for K-12 education as part of the American Rescue Plan.

In an effort to salvage what’s left of this academic year and prepare for the 2021-22 school year, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 86 and Governor Newsom signed it, offering a $2 Billion COVID-19 safety fund for school districts in the red tier to share if they manage to offer in-person instruction for grades K-6 and at least one middle or high school grade by April 1. For those that can’t, they will lose 1 percent of the incentive every day they are not open through mid-May.

Newsom said when he signed AB 86, “There is nothing more foundational to an equitable society than getting our kids safely back into classrooms. Our kids are missing too may rites of passage - field trips, proms, and graduations.”

Students and parents are anxious for schools to safely open for in-person instruction. The term “learning loss” has become synonymous with distance learning which was only intended to be used by school districts for a short period of time. For many students, the year that they have been shut up at home has not only taken a toll on their academic progress but affected their mental health and society may be reckoning with the fallout for many years to come.

In general, Black and Latino children have struggled more academically than their Asian and White peers. Keeping up with schoolwork has been complicated by not having access to technology and reliable internet. Concentrating on studies has been more difficult when they live in communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. 

For many families remote learning created a childcare crisis, forcing some parents to leave their jobs. Many parents became frustrated with balancing jobs and supervising their children’s lessons.

The power to restart in-class instruction is vested in local school boards.  It’s their responsibility to develop a plan for the safe opening of their schools relying on direction from the governor and Legislature and following safety protocols provided by the CDC and state and local public health directives.

The willingness of parents to send their kids back to the classroom varies based on their experience dealing with Covid-19 which is related to race, ethnicity and income. White and wealthier families that are frustrated with remote learning and as a group has been least affected by the virus are demanding resumption of in person instruction. They trust that their school district can safely reopen. 

Black and Latino parents while wanting their children to return to school have experienced the inequitable impact of Covid-19 and are concerned about exposing their children to the virus in a school setting and bringing it home. While these parents understand their children are not faring well academically and mentally with distance learning they are not willing to risk their safety.

Contributing to the unease that Black and Latino parents have about school reopening classrooms has been their children’s teachers expressing their hesitancy to returning to school without all teachers and staff having the opportunity to be vaccinated. Studies show that transmission in schools appears to be primarily from teacher to teacher, then from teacher to student, but almost never from student to teacher. So vaccinating teachers is important to everyone’s school safety.

While the stance that the teachers took may have delayed in-school learning, Newsom decided that 10 % of vaccines a week would be reserved for teachers and other school staff. Although AB 86 and CDC guidelines have not included vaccinating teachers in the strategy for safe school reopening, school districts have included it as part of their teacher union agreements. In addition, regular testing of students and staff is another strategy being adopted by school districts to detect virus on campus before it can spread.

While zero risk of COVID-19 infection is not possible, results from hundreds of school districts opened across the county and the world show virtually no communal spread of the virus, if safety protocols are followed. By listening to the concerns expressed by teachers, school districts have made in-person instruction safer for students and given parents more confidence to send their kids back to school.

Joe W. Bowers Jr. is an advocate for education opportunities for all and the education writer for CBM. He is a former corporate engineer and business executive and is a graduate of Stanford University.