Native Americans weren't alone on the Trail of Tears. Enslaved Africans were, too
The intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street is seen in 1917. Many of the buildings in this image were later destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
When Alaina E. Roberts started piecing her family's history together she made a surprising discovery that changed what it meant to be a Black American.
Her father's ancestors in Oklahoma were once enslaved by Native Americans.
Nearly a century before Tulsa's Greenwood District became a beacon of Black prosperity in the 1920s, Native American tribes and thousands of enslaved Black people arrived in the state. Members of the Five Tribes -- the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole -- had been forced out of their homelands in the Deep South, leading to the exodus known as "Trail of Tears."
"Owning slaves was a part of their strategy to assimilate into American society and it allowed them to be seen as different from other Native people and as more civilized," said Roberts, an associate professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh.
Roberts tells the story of how Oklahoma became a melting pot and the decades of racial tensions that preceded the Tulsa Race Massacre in her new book "I've Been Here All The While: Black Freedom on Native Land."
For Roberts, the 1921 Tulsa Massacre is only a portion of the complicated history of Black, Native American and White people in Oklahoma.
After the Civil War, the Five Tribes signed a treaty with the US government abolishing slavery. Those formerly enslaved by the tribes, known as freedmen or freedpeople, built churches and schools. They later received land allotments as part of the 1887 Dawes Act, which dismantled Indigenous reservations and redistributed the land. Some were granted tribal citizenship but many were not.
Roberts' great-great-grandmother was among the thousands of Black women and men once held in bondage by the Chickasaw tribe who received land allotments. Her family has now lived in the state for generations.
Black people began building wealth and founded all-Black towns. By the late 19th century, Oklahoma attracted people of all races who saw it as an opportunity for a fresh start, landownership and prosperity. But soon it became a hotbed for racial tensions.
Roberts recently spoke with CNN about her book, the quests for land and freedom in the years leading to the Tulsa Massacre and how learning about Oklahoma's past changed her views on race. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Full article:
www.cnn.com
The intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street is seen in 1917. Many of the buildings in this image were later destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
When Alaina E. Roberts started piecing her family's history together she made a surprising discovery that changed what it meant to be a Black American.
Her father's ancestors in Oklahoma were once enslaved by Native Americans.
Nearly a century before Tulsa's Greenwood District became a beacon of Black prosperity in the 1920s, Native American tribes and thousands of enslaved Black people arrived in the state. Members of the Five Tribes -- the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole -- had been forced out of their homelands in the Deep South, leading to the exodus known as "Trail of Tears."
"Owning slaves was a part of their strategy to assimilate into American society and it allowed them to be seen as different from other Native people and as more civilized," said Roberts, an associate professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh.
Roberts tells the story of how Oklahoma became a melting pot and the decades of racial tensions that preceded the Tulsa Race Massacre in her new book "I've Been Here All The While: Black Freedom on Native Land."
For Roberts, the 1921 Tulsa Massacre is only a portion of the complicated history of Black, Native American and White people in Oklahoma.
After the Civil War, the Five Tribes signed a treaty with the US government abolishing slavery. Those formerly enslaved by the tribes, known as freedmen or freedpeople, built churches and schools. They later received land allotments as part of the 1887 Dawes Act, which dismantled Indigenous reservations and redistributed the land. Some were granted tribal citizenship but many were not.
Roberts' great-great-grandmother was among the thousands of Black women and men once held in bondage by the Chickasaw tribe who received land allotments. Her family has now lived in the state for generations.
Black people began building wealth and founded all-Black towns. By the late 19th century, Oklahoma attracted people of all races who saw it as an opportunity for a fresh start, landownership and prosperity. But soon it became a hotbed for racial tensions.
Roberts recently spoke with CNN about her book, the quests for land and freedom in the years leading to the Tulsa Massacre and how learning about Oklahoma's past changed her views on race. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Full article:
Native Americans weren't alone on the Trail of Tears. Enslaved Africans were, too
When Alaina E. Roberts started piecing her family's history together she made a surprising discovery that changed what it meant to be a Black American.
www.cnn.com
