Black Wall Street and the Power of Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Change
This Black History Month, the IDEA management team had decided to spend some time reflecting on the history of black entrepreneurship and the challenges that African Americans still face today relative to other demographic groups in the United States. We decided to explore a story that is often omitted in United States history curriculums; the story of Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre.
During the early 20th century, a community of African- American entrepreneurs and families would establish a booming town in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It would earn the name Black Wall Street, for the financial prosperity of its businessmen. What followed its success was an event that saw its city blocks razed and became known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. This is the story of the successful black entrepreneurs that built a flourishing community and the white Tulsans that tore it all down.
The Greenwood Neighborhood and O.W. Gurley
A wealthy African American businessman named O.W. Gurley initiated the development of Black Wall Street. Purchasing 40 acres of land in the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Gurley opened a grocery store on Greenwood Avenue and laid out plans for the development of his land for both residential and commercial use. His mission was to distribute this land, to solely African Americans, who were migrating towards the west. He also provided loans to black entrepreneurs, allowing entrepreneurs to kickstart their ventures within the neighborhood. Twenty years later, Black Wall Street had grown to thirty-five city blocks of businesses and homes, complete with schools, lawyers and doctors offices, a Y.M.C.A, and a variety of other essential businesses.
White Jealousy and the Tulsa Race Massacre
Wages in this community matched those of today, exceeding those of the neighboring white communities. As the years passed, the disparity between living standards in the community and surrounding areas grew, which led to increased resentment from whites in Tulsa. Tensions came to a head in May of 1921 when an African American man named Dick Rowland was accused of assaulting a white woman named Sarah Page in an elevator. An armed mob gathered outside the jail where Rowland was being held. African Americans in anticipation that Rowland would be lynched, confronted angry whites. Despite efforts by community leaders to calm tensions, including O.W. Gurley himself, shots were fired after fighting broke out between black and white attendees. What happened next was a massacre, with white mobs burning down the thirty-five blocks that Black Wall Street had settled upon. The accusations leveled against Rowland were used as an excuse to destroy a town that whites saw as an affront to the status quo. Assailants dropped firebombs on the neighborhood from planes. Over 300 people would be dead by the end of the violence. The majority being African Americans. Police officers arrested hundreds of African Americans indiscriminately. Yet no whites were ever prosecuted for their role in the destruction of the town. Charges against Rowland were dismissed in September of 1921.
Reconstruction of Black Wall Street
Much of the immediate recovery in the aftermath of the destruction was provided by the Red Cross and some white Tulsans. However, most of the town’s population of 10,000 was left homeless. With the help of the same enterprising black businessmen who had built the town, the community quickly rebuilt itself by 1922. The town was reconstructed without any assistance from the greater Tulsa community and continued to thrive, though it never returned to its peak before the massacre. The town made it through the first half of the century successfully, even thriving during the Great Depression. However, by the 1950s the community began to decline as white business owners began entering the market as communities began desegregating. Much of the initial wealth was lost by the town’s founders in the massacre, preventing the accrual of generational wealth within the community.
Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Change
Black Wall Street displayed the incredible ability that black entrepreneurs had to create massive wealth without the interference of whites at the time. Working as a unified community the town was able to create a haven for the prosperity of black businesses separate from, however nonetheless affected by, the racism faced by residents at the time. Black Wall Street’s success also demonstrates the power of entrepreneurship and the incredible value of creating new businesses. Over its rapid rise, the enterprising community developed what was empty land, into a bustling town of high economic activity.
Black Entrepreneurship Today
Black entrepreneurship has increased greatly today, with black women now the fastest-growing demographic within the entrepreneurship industry. However, challenges are still faced by African-Americans disproportionately to whites. According to a report created by Goldman Sachs, African-American business owners applying for funding are three times more likely to be rejected than their white counterparts. The impacts of institutional racism and segregation are still felt today, with black entrepreneurs facing a lack of access to startup capital and continual funding. However, many financial institutions and black business leaders have created funds and investing initiatives to increase black business ownership. While Covid-19 has slowed the growth of black entrepreneurship, there is no doubt that black-owned businesses will continue to increase, attracting business to local communities and increasing job opportunities for residents.
There are also many ways you, the reader, can help out the black entrepreneurship community and spreading awareness around this topic. Shop at black-owned businesses locally and online especially during this pandemic. If you own a business that provides accounting, legal, or financial services, consider donating your services to a black-owned business. Supporting these businesses helps to break down the barriers that black entrepreneurs face and accelerates the growth of small businesses in the United States that create jobs within the economy.
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