Pattern of Destroying Prosperous Black Business Districts Across Multiple Cities

The Tulsa massacre was the most extreme but not unique example of prosperous Black business districts being destroyed by white mobs. Similar attacks occurred in Rosewood FL (1923), Johnstown PA (1923), and Springfield OH (1921). Even where outright destruction did not occur, Black business districts were systematically excluded from commercial expansion, denied business licenses, denied banking services, and blocked from contracting with governments. The targeting of Black economic success for destruction was a pattern that expressed white resentment of Black prosperity as a specific threat to the racial order.