>>John Bradshaw:
This is It Is Written.
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I'm John Bradshaw.
Thanks for joining me.
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Have you ever wondered
what you're actually capable of?
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Now, I don't mean do
you have greatness within,
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could you complete an Ironman,
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could you run a
Fortune 500 company.
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I don't mean that.
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Quite the opposite, really.
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There are times,
far too many times,
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that we see the
darkest side of humanity.
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What does it take
for a person to go
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to one of those
really dark places?
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What do you have to
have inside yourself
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that makes you
capable of going there?
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¤[Sad music]¤
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In 1921, people who otherwise
would have been considered,
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for the most part,
decent, law-abiding,
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upstanding members of society,
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took part in the massacre
of 300 innocent civilians.
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And the likelihood is you've
never heard anything about it.
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Here's some details.
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Three hundred people murdered.
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Thousands more injured.
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Property damaged
on a massive scale.
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Businesses,
homes, hotels, theaters,
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personal property-- destroyed.
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Insurance companies
refused to pay out the victims
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of this, this
unfathomable horror.
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And nobody was
brought to justice.
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The proper
authorities weren't alerted
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until well after they
could have made a difference.
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In fact, there was a
concerted effort to keep help
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from arriving to
assist the victims.
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And in case you missed
it, 300 people were killed.
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Hundreds were injured.
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Ten thousand
people were left homeless.
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And 40 or so city blocks
were burned to the ground.
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So where did this take place?
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Yugoslavia? The Soviet Union?
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Cambodia?
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No.
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It happened here in the
United States of America.
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In fact, right
here in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
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right here on this
spot where I am now.
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The worst civil
disturbance in American history.
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It's an incredibly
little-known atrocity.
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The vast majority of
people have got no idea
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that it ever happened,
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in spite of it being
one of the worst incidents
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of racial violence
in American history.
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And given the
history of this country,
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that's really saying something.
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¤[Folk music]¤
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In 1921, Greenwood, Oklahoma,
was a prosperous community.
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In fact, it was the
wealthiest black community
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in the United States.
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It was known as
the Black Wall Street.
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But on Memorial Day weekend that
year, Greenwood's prosperity,
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in fact, Greenwood itself,
came to an awful, abrupt end.
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Greenwood was
populated exclusively
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by African-Americans, many
of whom were very prosperous
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and ran successful businesses.
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Because of Jim Crow
laws, Greenwood's residents
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weren't able to shop at
white-owned businesses in Tulsa.
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A hundred years ago
Greenwood had its own hospital,
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many doctors, including a
nationally-renowned surgeon,
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a library, schools, hotels,
theaters, and a whole lot more.
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At the time, Tulsa was a hotbed
of the biting, bitter racism
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that plagued the United States.
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Between 1882 and 1968 there were
almost 5,000 known lynchings
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spread across
more than 40 states.
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Experts agree that
there were undoubtedly more,
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maybe thousands more.
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Almost 3/4 of the
people who were lynched
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were African-American.
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Think about
what's involved in this.
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Lynching was murder
carried out by a mob
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and often with the
cooperation of law enforcement.
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If law enforcement
didn't actively participate,
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and there were times the
law couldn't prevent a mob
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from doing what it wanted to do,
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law enforcement officers
often refused to try to prevent
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the murder and were
complicit in what went on.
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Huge crowds would come
out to watch lynchings.
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Now, these weren't people coming
to witness a public execution
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that had been
ordered by a court of law;
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they were coming
to watch mob justice.
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They were coming
to witness a murder.
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Photographs of lynching victims
would frequently be taken
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and then turned into postcards,
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which would be
sent around the country.
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There were times that the
protagonists of or witnesses
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to lynchings would cut
off the fingers and so forth
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of lynching victims
and keep them as souvenirs.
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So we're asking the question,
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"What kind of person do you have
to be to be capable of that?"
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Now, first some background
to the Tulsa race riot,
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or the Greenwood
massacre, as it's often called.
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Before it had taken
place, a 19-year-old white man,
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Roy Belton, admitted to
having murdered a taxi driver.
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An angry mob seized him from the
place where he was being held,
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took him a few miles out
of town, and lynched him.
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What were law
enforcement officials doing?
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They were there,
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keeping the peace and diverting
or directing the traffic.
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Up until this time,
20 African-Americans
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had been lynched in the state
of Oklahoma, but never in Tulsa.
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Well, now, black
Tulsans realized or figured
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that if the white population was
prepared to lynch a white man,
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it wouldn't be long
before they lynched a black man.
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And sooner, rather than later,
their fears were realized.
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On May the 30th, 1921, a
19-year-old black shoeshine boy
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named Dick Rowland entered the
elevator of the Drexel Building
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here at 319 South
Main Street in Tulsa.
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Why was he in the
elevator in the Drexel Building?
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Well, he wanted to use the
bathroom, and as a black man,
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he couldn't use the
bathrooms that were used
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by the white population,
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and there was a colored
bathroom on the top floor
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of the Drexel Building.
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Now, exactly what
happened inside that elevator
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isn't known, but it seemed that
as the elevator began to move,
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it lurched, causing
the elevator operator,
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a 17-year-old girl--
17-year-old white girl--
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named Sarah Page, to
trip and fall forward.
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It might be that Dick Rowland
tripped and fell forward.
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But whatever
happened, in that moment,
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young Sarah Page let
out a shout of surprise.
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And that shout of
surprise ended up being
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a young man's death sentence.
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I'll tell you
why in just a moment.
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¤[Music]¤
00:07:50.90\00:07:58.31
>>John: It's the
challenge that confronts
00:07:59.74\00:08:01.71
every human heart: evil.
00:08:01.74\00:08:04.51
How can you be kept from sin?
00:08:04.55\00:08:06.28
And why do everyday people
commit truly despicable acts?
00:08:06.31\00:08:10.42
Get the free offer,
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Call 800-253-3000.
00:08:25.57\00:08:28.90
>>John Bradshaw:
Thanks for joining me today
00:08:30.14\00:08:31.71
on It Is Written.
00:08:31.74\00:08:33.54
In 1921, Tulsa,
Oklahoma, was a booming city.
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¤[Solemn folk music]¤
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Greenwood was a prosperous
black suburb of Tulsa.
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There were plenty of
people in Tulsa, though,
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who resented that prosperity,
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and as a result, that
Greenwood no longer exists.
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A 19-year-old
shoeshine boy named Dick Rowland
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took the elevator to the
top floor of the Drexel Building
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at 319 South Main Street
to use the colored bathroom.
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Now, something happened
inside that elevator that caused
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the young white female
elevator operator to scream.
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It seems that the elevator
lurched and that Sarah Page
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fell in the
direction of the young man.
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¤[Sad music]¤
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Dick Rowland
knew that that scream
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was likely his death sentence.
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He ran out of the Drexel
Building as fast as he could,
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hoping that no
one would see him.
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But somebody did see him.
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They heard a white girl scream
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and saw a young
black man running.
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Now, in this case, two
and two did not equal four.
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But this was Tulsa in 1921.
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It wasn't long and he'd
been arrested and locked up
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in the Tulsa County Courthouse.
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And shortly after that, a white
mob arrived, demanding justice.
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They wanted
Dick Rowland lynched.
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Sarah Page said repeatedly
that Rowland had not harmed her.
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She wasn't hurt, her
clothes weren't ruffled,
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but the police
insisted that this was a case
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of attempted rape.
00:10:12.91\00:10:14.91
She refused to sign a statement
saying that that was so.
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But there was no way the facts
were going to get in the way
00:10:18.38\00:10:21.25
of an opportunity to put a
young black man in his place.
00:10:21.28\00:10:24.75
His place being, in
this case, the end of a rope.
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¤[Sad music fades]¤
00:10:33.43\00:10:35.86
Now, there was
absolutely no basis in fact
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for what the mob was
claiming and demanding.
00:10:39.97\00:10:42.77
But here you had people
you would assume were otherwise
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law-abiding and responsible
00:10:45.41\00:10:48.14
demanding the death
of an innocent young man
00:10:48.18\00:10:51.85
simply because of the hatred
that existed in their heart.
00:10:51.88\00:10:55.88
Now, there was no lack of
things fanning those flames.
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It's said that more than 3,000
people in Tulsa at the time
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were members of
the Ku Klux Klan,
00:11:02.62\00:11:05.09
and there was a white-owned
newspaper at the time,
00:11:05.13\00:11:07.83
The Tulsa Tribune,
00:11:07.86\00:11:09.40
that ran a number of editorials
that were overtly racist.
00:11:09.43\00:11:13.17
One headline said, "A
Negro Assaults a White Girl."
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¤[Ominous music]¤
00:11:17.74\00:11:19.07
After Rowland's arrest, the
Tribune's front page screamed,
00:11:19.11\00:11:22.58
"To Lynch Negro Tonight."
00:11:22.61\00:11:25.71
But a large number of Greenwood
men decided they were not going
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to let that happen.
00:11:29.68\00:11:31.02
They knew the shoeshine
boy had done nothing wrong,
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and they weren't about to sit by
00:11:33.89\00:11:35.46
while yet another innocent
young black man was executed
00:11:35.49\00:11:38.49
by a mob for a
crime he didn't commit.
00:11:38.53\00:11:42.53
So that group of men,
00:11:42.56\00:11:43.80
among them World War I veterans
who had served their country,
00:11:43.83\00:11:48.70
armed, came down here, the site
of the courthouse at that time,
00:11:48.74\00:11:54.74
and they confronted that
white mob of more than 2,000.
00:11:54.78\00:11:59.08
That mob had massed
right here in this very area.
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In the tension that
followed, a shot was fired.
00:12:04.12\00:12:08.62
And it was all on.
00:12:08.66\00:12:10.86
¤[Ominous music]¤
00:12:10.89\00:12:11.99
What followed was mayhem.
00:12:12.03\00:12:15.43
White Tulsans who didn't have
guns stole guns and ammunition
00:12:15.46\00:12:20.30
from gun shops
or hardware stores,
00:12:20.34\00:12:23.14
and they headed for Greenwood.
00:12:23.17\00:12:25.37
Greenwood, a
symbol of black progress,
00:12:25.41\00:12:28.94
was burned to the
ground-- completely.
00:12:28.98\00:12:33.18
More than 20 black
churches, a hospital,
00:12:33.21\00:12:36.72
a funeral home, a
school, a theater,
00:12:36.75\00:12:41.56
doctors' and lawyers'
offices, hotels, grocery stores,
00:12:41.59\00:12:46.90
restaurants, and
hundreds and hundreds of homes--
00:12:46.93\00:12:51.43
more than a thousand structures
were all completely destroyed.
00:12:51.47\00:12:57.31
¤[Solemn music]¤
00:12:58.91\00:12:59.94
Homes were looted.
00:13:00.04\00:13:01.68
Anything that
could be taken was taken.
00:13:01.71\00:13:04.58
In years following,
black residents who came back
00:13:04.61\00:13:07.38
to the area knew
that those possessions
00:13:07.42\00:13:09.68
that they had left behind
00:13:09.72\00:13:11.59
were now in white-owned
homes and businesses.
00:13:11.62\00:13:15.89
Now, if that was all,
that would be bad enough.
00:13:15.92\00:13:19.79
But the human
toll was much higher.
00:13:19.83\00:13:23.23
Three hundred people were
killed, murdered, slaughtered,
00:13:24.07\00:13:30.21
for no other reason
than the color of their skin.
00:13:30.24\00:13:34.31
If you were
black, you were a target.
00:13:34.34\00:13:37.75
And there was no shortage
of people willing to take aim.
00:13:37.78\00:13:41.78
So what does it take to enable
a person to cross that bridge
00:13:41.82\00:13:46.12
and get to a place
where they're willing to join
00:13:46.15\00:13:48.09
in a mob murder of
people from their own community,
00:13:48.12\00:13:52.49
people who lived
only blocks away,
00:13:52.53\00:13:54.00
people they interacted with,
00:13:54.03\00:13:55.80
people they
passed by in the street?
00:13:55.83\00:13:58.23
How do you get
from here to there?
00:13:58.27\00:14:00.27
Now, there was plenty that was
allowed to cause the pressure
00:14:00.30\00:14:03.77
to build up in Tulsa--
00:14:03.81\00:14:05.74
the race-baiting
newspaper-- The Tulsa Tribune--
00:14:05.77\00:14:08.31
the racism that
was endemic in society,
00:14:08.34\00:14:10.18
the Ku Klux Klan, jealousy of
the prosperity of black Tulsans.
00:14:10.21\00:14:15.55
But none of those things can
be allowed to be used as excuses
00:14:15.58\00:14:19.22
for an atrocity like this.
00:14:19.25\00:14:20.86
People live with and deal
with frustration of all kind
00:14:20.89\00:14:24.26
all the time without
resorting to anything like that.
00:14:24.29\00:14:29.66
I'll give you an interesting
case to consider for comparison.
00:14:29.70\00:14:32.93
In 1921, the same year as the
Black Wall Street was destroyed
00:14:32.97\00:14:38.17
by a white mob and
300 people were murdered,
00:14:38.21\00:14:41.34
two Italian-American immigrants
were convicted of robbery
00:14:41.38\00:14:45.11
and murder.
00:14:45.15\00:14:46.75
The crime took place in
Braintree, Massachusetts,
00:14:46.78\00:14:50.19
and Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo
Vanzetti were convicted
00:14:50.22\00:14:54.52
of the crime.
00:14:54.56\00:14:55.39
There was an uproar.
00:14:55.42\00:14:57.76
Academics weighed in.
00:14:57.79\00:14:59.66
People protested that
the two were innocent.
00:14:59.69\00:15:02.70
Writers and artists pleaded that
the courts would reconsider.
00:15:02.73\00:15:07.27
Even Albert
Einstein signed a petition.
00:15:07.30\00:15:10.34
Workers went on strike.
00:15:10.37\00:15:12.41
After the two men were executed,
00:15:12.44\00:15:14.71
200,000 people came out to
watch the funeral procession.
00:15:14.74\00:15:18.95
This was a big, big deal because
there were those who believed,
00:15:18.98\00:15:23.79
rightly or wrongly,
that a miscarriage of justice
00:15:23.82\00:15:27.09
was being carried out.
00:15:27.12\00:15:28.66
But 1,400 miles away, at
right around the same time,
00:15:28.69\00:15:33.60
300 people were
murdered in cold blood,
00:15:33.63\00:15:37.63
and the silence was deafening.
00:15:37.67\00:15:40.40
So what has to take
place in a human heart
00:15:42.90\00:15:45.74
to make it possible
for somebody to go there?
00:15:45.77\00:15:49.34
"Racism," you might say.
00:15:49.38\00:15:51.25
Okay, but not every racist takes
a gun and shoots somebody dead
00:15:51.28\00:15:56.75
and then burns down
their home or their town.
00:15:56.79\00:16:00.56
"Mob mentality."
00:16:00.59\00:16:02.39
Okay, but people on
that day knew the difference
00:16:02.42\00:16:04.63
between right and wrong.
00:16:04.66\00:16:06.16
There were many white people
who sheltered and protected
00:16:06.19\00:16:08.76
African-Americans from
the mob and saved their lives.
00:16:08.80\00:16:12.50
People knew better.
00:16:12.53\00:16:14.20
Now, here's why this is
so important to you and me.
00:16:14.74\00:16:17.97
This is what the Bible says
in Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9:
00:16:18.01\00:16:22.98
"The heart is
deceitful above all things,
00:16:23.01\00:16:26.41
and desperately
wicked; who can know it?"
00:16:26.45\00:16:30.12
Psalm 14 starts
with these words:
00:16:30.15\00:16:33.82
"The fool has said in
his heart, 'There is no God.'
00:16:33.86\00:16:38.29
They are corrupt,
they've done abominable works,
00:16:38.33\00:16:41.93
there is none who does good.
00:16:41.96\00:16:44.20
The Lord looks down from
heaven upon the children of men,
00:16:44.23\00:16:47.94
to see if there
are any who understand,
00:16:47.97\00:16:50.57
who seek God.
00:16:50.61\00:16:52.47
They've all turned aside,
00:16:52.51\00:16:54.21
they have
together become corrupt;
00:16:54.24\00:16:56.68
there is none who
does good, no, not one."
00:16:56.71\00:17:01.48
The Apostle Paul quotes
Psalm 14 in Romans chapter 3,
00:17:01.52\00:17:05.85
applying those verses to his
day and, by extension, to ours.
00:17:05.89\00:17:10.56
So what we read in the Bible
tells us that we are capable
00:17:10.59\00:17:13.80
of the most disastrous actions.
00:17:13.83\00:17:16.77
There lurks within every one of
us the capacity for real evil.
00:17:16.80\00:17:22.80
So how does a person live
a life that doesn't include
00:17:22.84\00:17:26.41
hate and violence?
00:17:26.44\00:17:30.48
What happened
with the destruction
00:17:30.51\00:17:31.98
of the Black Wall Street
reveals a spiritual problem.
00:17:32.01\00:17:36.35
Hatred is a spiritual problem.
Racism is a spiritual problem.
00:17:36.38\00:17:42.22
All sin is a spiritual problem.
00:17:42.26\00:17:46.23
But thank God that the Bible
makes clear that there is a way
00:17:46.26\00:17:50.63
that we can live
without what the Bible calls
00:17:50.67\00:17:53.27
"the old man" of sin
dominating our lives.
00:17:53.30\00:17:57.54
More in a moment.
00:17:57.57\00:17:59.14
¤[Music]¤
00:17:59.17\00:18:06.58
>>John: Thank
you for remembering
00:18:07.92\00:18:09.12
that It Is Written exists
00:18:09.15\00:18:10.65
because of the kindness
of people just like you.
00:18:10.69\00:18:13.46
To support this international
life-changing ministry,
00:18:13.49\00:18:16.69
please call us
now at 800-253-3000.
00:18:16.73\00:18:20.96
You can send your
tax-deductible gift
00:18:20.96\00:18:22.40
to the address on your screen
00:18:22.43\00:18:23.87
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:18:23.90\00:18:27.50
Thank you for your prayers
and for your financial support.
00:18:27.54\00:18:30.54
Our number
again is 800-253-3000,
00:18:30.57\00:18:34.51
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:18:34.54\00:18:37.65
[Artillery fires]
00:18:38.08\00:18:39.28
>>John: Just hours after
the attack on Pearl Harbor
00:18:39.31\00:18:42.02
in December of 1941,
Japan attacked the Philippines.
00:18:42.05\00:18:47.52
In the midst of the
death and destruction,
00:18:47.56\00:18:50.19
tens of thousands of
American and Filipino soldiers
00:18:50.23\00:18:53.33
were captured
and forced to march
00:18:53.36\00:18:56.16
on what would become
known as the Bataan Death March.
00:18:56.20\00:18:59.80
¤[Sad music]¤
00:18:59.83\00:19:01.07
The horror of that march is
almost impossible for people
00:19:01.10\00:19:03.97
living in peacetime to imagine.
00:19:04.01\00:19:06.88
And so we ask ourselves, "Why?"
00:19:06.91\00:19:10.38
Why does a loving God allow
such horrors to take place?
00:19:10.41\00:19:15.32
The answers don't come easy.
00:19:15.35\00:19:18.29
Join It Is Written on
location in the Philippines
00:19:18.32\00:19:21.09
for "The March of
Death" as we explore together
00:19:21.12\00:19:24.76
that challenging
question: "Why? Why me?"
00:19:24.79\00:19:29.83
"The March of Death."
00:19:29.86\00:19:31.23
Watch now on It Is Written TV.
00:19:31.27\00:19:34.50
>>John Bradshaw: "In
the beginning God created
00:19:38.84\00:19:40.68
the heaven and the earth,"
00:19:40.71\00:19:42.38
and when He did so, He
gave to the human family
00:19:42.41\00:19:45.48
the ability and
freedom to think and to do.
00:19:45.51\00:19:49.48
We were given freedom of choice.
00:19:49.52\00:19:52.42
But after sin entered the world,
00:19:52.45\00:19:54.62
we inherited from Adam
and Eve a fallen nature.
00:19:54.66\00:19:59.53
We're born with a
tendency towards evil.
00:19:59.56\00:20:03.23
David wrote in Psalm 58:3,
00:20:04.23\00:20:07.00
"The wicked are
estranged from the womb:
00:20:07.04\00:20:10.24
they go astray as soon as
they be born, speaking lies."
00:20:10.27\00:20:15.24
The Bible shows us
what we're truly capable of,
00:20:17.71\00:20:20.72
both for good and for evil,
00:20:20.75\00:20:23.45
and in some Bible
personalities, you see both.
00:20:23.49\00:20:27.39
We'll take a look at
one incredible example
00:20:27.42\00:20:29.42
in just a moment.
00:20:29.46\00:20:31.39
There was a lot of
race-based hatred in the Bible,
00:20:31.43\00:20:35.46
and some of the most
breathtaking examples
00:20:35.50\00:20:38.03
of murderous hatred are
found where you'd least expect.
00:20:38.07\00:20:43.27
In Jesus' day, the Jews and
the Samaritans hated each other.
00:20:43.30\00:20:48.04
On one occasion, Jesus
was heading to Jerusalem,
00:20:48.08\00:20:51.25
and He was planning to
spend the night en route
00:20:51.28\00:20:54.98
in a Samaritan village.
00:20:55.02\00:20:56.85
James and John went
ahead to get things ready.
00:20:56.89\00:21:00.12
But the Samaritans told
James and John to get lost.
00:21:00.16\00:21:03.76
They didn't want any
Jews spending the night
00:21:03.79\00:21:05.53
in their village.
00:21:05.56\00:21:07.00
James and John were furious.
00:21:07.03\00:21:08.80
They came to
Jesus and they said,
00:21:08.83\00:21:10.53
"Lord, do you want us to
call fire down from heaven
00:21:10.57\00:21:14.40
and burn them up, like
the prophet Elijah did?"
00:21:14.44\00:21:18.21
Now, think about this.
00:21:18.24\00:21:19.47
This was James and John, John
who wrote the Gospel of John,
00:21:19.51\00:21:23.78
and the little Johns,
and the book of Revelation.
00:21:23.81\00:21:26.75
They were asking Jesus if
they could incinerate a village
00:21:26.78\00:21:31.42
full of people.
00:21:31.45\00:21:32.92
Where did this kind
of hatred come from?
00:21:32.95\00:21:37.56
Now, consider the Apostle Paul.
00:21:37.59\00:21:39.66
This is that case
study I said we'd look at.
00:21:39.69\00:21:42.13
Acts 14 says,
rather matter-of-factly,
00:21:42.16\00:21:46.13
"Then Jews from
Antioch and Iconium came there;
00:21:46.17\00:21:50.21
and having
persuaded the multitudes,
00:21:50.24\00:21:52.37
they stoned Paul
00:21:52.41\00:21:54.21
and dragged him out of the
city, supposing him to be dead."
00:21:54.24\00:21:58.55
Now, this was
straight-up religious hatred.
00:21:58.58\00:22:02.62
He was brutalized simply
because of what he believed.
00:22:02.65\00:22:06.96
Acts 21:31 is speaking of Paul
when it rather casually says,
00:22:06.99\00:22:11.29
"And as they went
about to kill him..."
00:22:11.33\00:22:14.46
In Acts chapter 23, the
authorities have to protect Paul
00:22:14.46\00:22:17.97
from a mob because
they fear that that mob
00:22:18.00\00:22:20.17
is literally gonna
tear Paul to pieces.
00:22:20.20\00:22:23.47
Later in the same chapter,
00:22:23.51\00:22:24.97
a group of 40 men take a pledge
that they're not gonna eat
00:22:25.01\00:22:28.84
until after they
have killed Paul.
00:22:28.88\00:22:31.78
Now, they didn't kill Paul,
00:22:31.81\00:22:33.21
and the Bible doesn't say
exactly what happened to them,
00:22:33.25\00:22:35.48
so that means they
either broke their pledge
00:22:35.52\00:22:37.69
or got...really hungry.
00:22:37.72\00:22:41.52
Paul was persecuted owing
to a blind hatred brought about
00:22:41.56\00:22:45.43
simply because
of what he believed.
00:22:45.46\00:22:49.06
Now, earlier in
the book of Acts,
00:22:49.10\00:22:51.53
it was Paul
doing the persecuting.
00:22:51.57\00:22:54.47
The great Apostle
Paul, who wrote so much
00:22:54.50\00:22:57.14
of the New Testament,
00:22:57.17\00:22:58.51
was himself responsible
for the deaths of many people.
00:22:58.54\00:23:04.25
Again, based solely
upon what they believed.
00:23:04.28\00:23:10.12
Even Paul was
capable of the worst crimes.
00:23:10.15\00:23:14.99
And we've seen this
many times around our world.
00:23:15.02\00:23:18.06
Northern Ireland was divided
owing to a political dispute
00:23:18.09\00:23:21.40
drawn basically
along religious lines.
00:23:21.43\00:23:24.50
In the Middle Ages,
the Roman Catholic Church
00:23:24.53\00:23:26.53
ruthlessly persecuted
millions of Protestants.
00:23:26.57\00:23:29.70
But there were times
those Protestants gained
00:23:29.74\00:23:32.17
the ascendancy, and
they became the persecutors.
00:23:32.21\00:23:36.28
¤[Melancholy music]¤
00:23:36.31\00:23:39.61
So who does this?
00:23:41.62\00:23:43.32
A lot of crime, a lot of
evil is carried out by people
00:23:43.35\00:23:46.62
you would not think
are capable of doing so.
00:23:46.65\00:23:50.33
But we all are. We are fallen.
00:23:50.36\00:23:54.36
It's what sin has done.
00:23:54.36\00:23:56.53
But here's the
really good news in this.
00:23:57.20\00:24:01.07
No one has to cave in to
hate or racism or animosity
00:24:01.10\00:24:07.51
or any kind of sin.
00:24:07.54\00:24:09.51
We can all be kept by the
grace of God through the power
00:24:09.54\00:24:14.48
of the Holy Spirit
at work in our life.
00:24:14.52\00:24:18.32
No matter your situation,
00:24:18.35\00:24:19.65
no matter what
you're wrestling with,
00:24:19.69\00:24:22.09
no matter what
your background is,
00:24:22.12\00:24:23.76
no matter what
your challenge is,
00:24:23.79\00:24:26.39
God can do this for you.
00:24:26.43\00:24:29.33
That's why we pray
in the Lord's Prayer,
00:24:29.36\00:24:32.20
"Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."
00:24:32.23\00:24:36.94
That's Matthew 6:13.
00:24:36.97\00:24:39.27
First Corinthians 10:13 says,
00:24:39.31\00:24:41.71
"No temptation has overtaken you
00:24:41.74\00:24:43.51
except such as is common to man;
00:24:43.55\00:24:46.28
but God is faithful,
00:24:46.31\00:24:48.15
who will not
allow you to be tempted
00:24:48.18\00:24:50.02
beyond what you are able,
00:24:50.05\00:24:51.92
but with the temptation will
also make the way of escape,
00:24:51.95\00:24:56.62
that you may be
able to bear it."
00:24:56.66\00:24:58.69
Philippians 2:13 says that
God "works in you both to will
00:24:58.73\00:25:03.57
and to do for
His good pleasure."
00:25:03.60\00:25:06.70
Reporting on the aftermath
of the destruction of Greenwood,
00:25:06.74\00:25:11.11
The Tulsa Tribune wrote this
about black residents returning
00:25:11.14\00:25:15.71
to what was left of their homes:
00:25:15.74\00:25:18.48
"As they passed the
city's most traveled streets,
00:25:18.51\00:25:22.08
they held both hands
high above their heads,
00:25:22.12\00:25:24.82
their hats in one hand,
00:25:24.85\00:25:26.76
a token of their submission
to the white man's authority.
00:25:26.79\00:25:30.99
They will not return
to the homes they had
00:25:31.03\00:25:33.26
on Tuesday afternoon,
but to heaps of ashes,
00:25:33.29\00:25:37.83
the angry white man's reprisal
for the wrong inflicted on them
00:25:37.87\00:25:43.57
by the inferior race."
00:25:43.61\00:25:45.31
So who writes that?
Who thinks like that?
00:25:46.94\00:25:50.98
Well, the truth is...
people just like you and me,
00:25:51.01\00:25:54.78
but people
whose hearts and minds
00:25:54.82\00:25:57.12
are not surrendered to God.
00:25:57.15\00:25:59.42
See, God gave to
us freedom of choice.
00:25:59.45\00:26:02.16
If your freedom of choice
is not surrendered to Him,
00:26:02.19\00:26:05.43
then there's no place that you
are not capable of going in sin.
00:26:05.46\00:26:10.87
But when your life
is surrendered to God,
00:26:10.90\00:26:13.17
that's when you're kept out
of hate and in the hands of God.
00:26:13.20\00:26:18.64
So how is it with you?
00:26:18.67\00:26:20.44
Are you
surrendered to God today,
00:26:20.48\00:26:21.94
or is there something that
must be surrendered to Him now?
00:26:21.98\00:26:25.38
If there is, I want to
encourage you to give your life,
00:26:25.41\00:26:28.98
to give your freedom of
choice completely to God.
00:26:29.02\00:26:33.15
>>John: It's the
challenge that confronts
00:26:34.96\00:26:36.86
every human heart: evil.
00:26:36.89\00:26:39.46
How can you be kept from sin?
00:26:39.49\00:26:41.46
And why do everyday people
commit truly despicable acts?
00:26:41.50\00:26:45.37
Get the free offer,
00:26:45.40\00:26:46.87
"Evil: The Challenge
of the Sinful Heart."
00:26:46.90\00:26:49.34
Simply call now: 800-253-300,
00:26:49.37\00:26:52.87
800-253-3000.
00:26:52.91\00:26:54.88
It's yours free.
00:26:54.91\00:26:56.95
Visit us online at iiwoffer.com.
00:26:56.98\00:27:00.58
Call 800-253-3000.
00:27:00.62\00:27:03.65
>>John Bradshaw:
Let's pray together now.
00:27:05.55\00:27:07.86
Our Father in heaven, we realize
when we look into the Bible
00:27:07.89\00:27:11.19
what we are truly capable of.
00:27:11.23\00:27:14.00
We look around the world--
we see the depths of sin.
00:27:14.03\00:27:18.20
We realize that could be
us; perhaps it has been us.
00:27:18.23\00:27:22.27
I thank You for forgiveness,
and I thank You for power,
00:27:22.30\00:27:25.71
the power of the Holy
Spirit in our lives keeping us
00:27:25.74\00:27:28.88
where You want us to be kept.
00:27:28.91\00:27:31.45
Lord, the difference
between living a life in You
00:27:31.48\00:27:35.25
and a life of sin
and shame is Jesus in us.
00:27:35.28\00:27:39.55
Fill us with Your presence.
00:27:39.59\00:27:40.66
Keep us now, I pray,
00:27:40.69\00:27:42.52
in Jesus' name.
00:27:42.56\00:27:44.56
Amen.
00:27:44.59\00:27:45.96
Thank you so
much for joining me.
00:27:45.99\00:27:47.30
I'm looking forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:27:47.30\00:27:49.60
Until then, remember:
00:27:49.63\00:27:51.50
"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:27:51.53\00:27:55.37
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:27:55.40\00:27:59.54
¤[Theme music]¤
00:27:59.57\00:28:09.68
¤[Theme music]¤
00:28:09.68\00:28:22.63