>>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]¤
00:07:50.83\00:07:58.24
>>John: It's the
challenge that confronts
00:07:59.67\00:08:01.64
every human heart: evil.
00:08:01.68\00:08:04.45
How can you be kept from sin?
00:08:04.48\00:08:06.21
And why do everyday people
commit truly despicable acts?
00:08:06.25\00:08:10.35
Get the free offer,
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00:08:25.50\00:08:28.84
>>John Bradshaw:
Thanks for joining me today
00:08:30.07\00:08:31.64
on It Is Written.
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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.
00:10:12.84\00:10:14.84
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
00:10:18.31\00:10:21.18
of an opportunity to put a
young black man in his place.
00:10:21.22\00:10:24.69
His place being, in
this case, the end of a rope.
00:10:24.72\00:10:29.72
¤[Sad music fades]¤
00:10:33.36\00:10:35.80
Now, there was
absolutely no basis in fact
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for what the mob was
claiming and demanding.
00:10:39.90\00:10:42.70
But here you had people
you would assume were otherwise
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law-abiding and responsible
00:10:45.34\00:10:48.08
demanding the death
of an innocent young man
00:10:48.11\00:10:51.78
simply because of the hatred
that existed in their heart.
00:10:51.81\00:10:55.82
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,
00:11:02.56\00:11:05.03
and there was a white-owned
newspaper at the time,
00:11:05.06\00:11:07.76
The Tulsa Tribune,
00:11:07.76\00:11:09.33
that ran a number of editorials
that were overtly racist.
00:11:09.36\00:11:13.10
One headline said, "A
Negro Assaults a White Girl."
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¤[Ominous music]¤
00:11:17.67\00:11:19.01
After Rowland's arrest, the
Tribune's front page screamed,
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"To Lynch Negro Tonight."
00:11:22.54\00:11:25.65
But a large number of Greenwood
men decided they were not going
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to let that happen.
00:11:29.62\00:11:30.95
They knew the shoeshine
boy had done nothing wrong,
00:11:30.99\00:11:33.79
and they weren't about to sit by
00:11:33.82\00:11:35.39
while yet another innocent
young black man was executed
00:11:35.42\00:11:38.43
by a mob for a
crime he didn't commit.
00:11:38.46\00:11:42.46
So that group of men,
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among them World War I veterans
who had served their country,
00:11:43.77\00:11:48.64
armed, came down here, the site
of the courthouse at that time,
00:11:48.67\00:11:54.68
and they confronted that
white mob of more than 2,000.
00:11:54.71\00:11:59.01
That mob had massed
right here in this very area.
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In the tension that
followed, a shot was fired.
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And it was all on.
00:12:08.59\00:12:10.79
¤[Ominous music]¤
00:12:10.83\00:12:11.93
What followed was mayhem.
00:12:11.96\00:12:15.36
White Tulsans who didn't have
guns stole guns and ammunition
00:12:15.40\00:12:20.24
from gun shops
or hardware stores,
00:12:20.27\00:12:23.07
and they headed for Greenwood.
00:12:23.10\00:12:25.31
Greenwood, a
symbol of black progress,
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was burned to the
ground-- completely.
00:12:28.91\00:12:33.11
More than 20 black
churches, a hospital,
00:12:33.15\00:12:36.65
a funeral home, a
school, a theater,
00:12:36.69\00:12:41.49
doctors' and lawyers'
offices, hotels, grocery stores,
00:12:41.52\00:12:46.83
restaurants, and
hundreds and hundreds of homes--
00:12:46.86\00:12:51.37
more than a thousand structures
were all completely destroyed.
00:12:51.40\00:12:57.24
¤[Solemn music]¤
00:12:58.84\00:12:59.87
Homes were looted.
00:12:59.91\00:13:01.61
Anything that
could be taken was taken.
00:13:01.64\00:13:04.51
In years following,
black residents who came back
00:13:04.55\00:13:07.32
to the area knew
that those possessions
00:13:07.35\00:13:09.62
that they had left behind
00:13:09.65\00:13:11.52
were now in white-owned
homes and businesses.
00:13:11.55\00:13:15.82
Now, if that was all,
that would be bad enough.
00:13:15.86\00:13:19.73
But the human
toll was much higher.
00:13:19.76\00:13:23.16
Three hundred people were
killed, murdered, slaughtered,
00:13:24.00\00:13:30.14
for no other reason
than the color of their skin.
00:13:30.17\00:13:34.24
If you were
black, you were a target.
00:13:34.28\00:13:37.68
And there was no shortage
of people willing to take aim.
00:13:37.71\00:13:41.72
So what does it take to enable
a person to cross that bridge
00:13:41.75\00:13:46.05
and get to a place
where they're willing to join
00:13:46.09\00:13:48.02
in a mob murder of
people from their own community,
00:13:48.06\00:13:52.43
people who lived
only blocks away,
00:13:52.46\00:13:53.96
people they interacted with,
00:13:54.00\00:13:55.73
people they
passed by in the street?
00:13:55.76\00:13:58.17
How do you get
from here to there?
00:13:58.20\00:14:00.20
Now, there was plenty that was
allowed to cause the pressure
00:14:00.24\00:14:03.71
to build up in Tulsa--
00:14:03.74\00:14:05.67
the race-baiting
newspaper-- The Tulsa Tribune--
00:14:05.71\00:14:08.24
the racism that
was endemic in society,
00:14:08.28\00:14:10.11
the Ku Klux Klan, jealousy of
the prosperity of black Tulsans.
00:14:10.15\00:14:15.48
But none of those things can
be allowed to be used as excuses
00:14:15.52\00:14:19.15
for an atrocity like this.
00:14:19.19\00:14:20.79
People live with and deal
with frustration of all kind
00:14:20.82\00:14:24.19
all the time without
resorting to anything like that.
00:14:24.23\00:14:29.60
I'll give you an interesting
case to consider for comparison.
00:14:29.63\00:14:32.87
In 1921, the same year as the
Black Wall Street was destroyed
00:14:32.90\00:14:38.11
by a white mob and
300 people were murdered,
00:14:38.14\00:14:41.28
two Italian-American immigrants
were convicted of robbery
00:14:41.31\00:14:45.05
and murder.
00:14:45.08\00:14:46.68
The crime took place in
Braintree, Massachusetts,
00:14:46.72\00:14:50.12
and Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo
Vanzetti were convicted
00:14:50.15\00:14:54.46
of the crime.
00:14:54.49\00:14:55.32
There was an uproar.
00:14:55.36\00:14:57.69
Academics weighed in.
00:14:57.73\00:14:59.59
People protested that
the two were innocent.
00:14:59.63\00:15:02.63
Writers and artists pleaded that
the courts would reconsider.
00:15:02.66\00:15:07.20
Even Albert
Einstein signed a petition.
00:15:07.24\00:15:10.27
Workers went on strike.
00:15:10.31\00:15:12.34
After the two men were executed,
00:15:12.37\00:15:14.64
200,000 people came out to
watch the funeral procession.
00:15:14.68\00:15:18.88
This was a big, big deal because
there were those who believed,
00:15:18.91\00:15:23.72
rightly or wrongly,
that a miscarriage of justice
00:15:23.75\00:15:27.02
was being carried out.
00:15:27.06\00:15:28.59
But 1,400 miles away, at
right around the same time,
00:15:28.62\00:15:33.53
300 people were
murdered in cold blood,
00:15:33.56\00:15:37.57
and the silence was deafening.
00:15:37.60\00:15:40.34
So what has to take
place in a human heart
00:15:42.84\00:15:45.67
to make it possible
for somebody to go there?
00:15:45.71\00:15:49.28
"Racism," you might say.
00:15:49.31\00:15:51.18
Okay, but not every racist takes
a gun and shoots somebody dead
00:15:51.21\00:15:56.69
and then burns down
their home or their town.
00:15:56.72\00:16:00.49
"Mob mentality."
00:16:00.52\00:16:02.32
Okay, but people on
that day knew the difference
00:16:02.36\00:16:04.56
between right and wrong.
00:16:04.59\00:16:06.09
There were many white people
who sheltered and protected
00:16:06.13\00:16:08.70
African-Americans from
the mob and saved their lives.
00:16:08.73\00:16:12.43
People knew better.
00:16:12.47\00:16:14.14
Now, here's why this is
so important to you and me.
00:16:14.67\00:16:17.91
This is what the Bible says
in Jeremiah chapter 17, verse 9:
00:16:17.94\00:16:22.91
"The heart is
deceitful above all things,
00:16:22.94\00:16:26.35
and desperately
wicked; who can know it?"
00:16:26.38\00:16:30.05
Psalm 14 starts
with these words:
00:16:30.09\00:16:33.76
"The fool has said in
his heart, 'There is no God.'
00:16:33.79\00:16:38.23
They are corrupt,
they've done abominable works,
00:16:38.26\00:16:41.86
there is none who does good.
00:16:41.90\00:16:44.13
The Lord looks down from
heaven upon the children of men,
00:16:44.17\00:16:47.87
to see if there
are any who understand,
00:16:47.90\00:16:50.51
who seek God.
00:16:50.54\00:16:52.41
They've all turned aside,
00:16:52.44\00:16:54.14
they have
together become corrupt;
00:16:54.18\00:16:56.61
there is none who
does good, no, not one."
00:16:56.64\00:17:01.42
The Apostle Paul quotes
Psalm 14 in Romans chapter 3,
00:17:01.45\00:17:05.79
applying those verses to his
day and, by extension, to ours.
00:17:05.82\00:17:10.49
So what we read in the Bible
tells us that we are capable
00:17:10.53\00:17:13.73
of the most disastrous actions.
00:17:13.76\00:17:16.70
There lurks within every one of
us the capacity for real evil.
00:17:16.73\00:17:22.74
So how does a person live
a life that doesn't include
00:17:22.77\00:17:26.34
hate and violence?
00:17:26.37\00:17:30.41
What happened
with the destruction
00:17:30.45\00:17:31.91
of the Black Wall Street
reveals a spiritual problem.
00:17:31.95\00:17:36.28
Hatred is a spiritual problem.
Racism is a spiritual problem.
00:17:36.32\00:17:42.16
All sin is a spiritual problem.
00:17:42.19\00:17:46.16
But thank God that the Bible
makes clear that there is a way
00:17:46.19\00:17:50.57
that we can live
without what the Bible calls
00:17:50.60\00:17:53.20
"the old man" of sin
dominating our lives.
00:17:53.23\00:17:57.47
More in a moment.
00:17:57.51\00:17:59.07
¤[Music]¤
00:17:59.11\00:18:06.51
>>John: Thank
you for remembering
00:18:07.85\00:18:09.05
that It Is Written exists
00:18:09.08\00:18:10.59
because of the kindness
of people just like you.
00:18:10.62\00:18:13.39
To support this international
life-changing ministry,
00:18:13.42\00:18:16.62
please call us
now at 800-253-3000.
00:18:16.66\00:18:20.90
You can send your
tax-deductible gift
00:18:20.93\00:18:22.33
to the address on your screen
00:18:22.36\00:18:23.80
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:18:23.83\00:18:27.44
Thank you for your prayers
and for your financial support.
00:18:27.47\00:18:30.47
Our number
again is 800-253-3000,
00:18:30.51\00:18:34.44
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:18:34.48\00:18:37.58
[Artillery fires]
00:18:38.01\00:18:39.21
>>John: Just hours after
the attack on Pearl Harbor
00:18:39.25\00:18:41.95
in December of 1941,
Japan attacked the Philippines.
00:18:41.98\00:18:47.46
In the midst of the
death and destruction,
00:18:47.49\00:18:50.13
tens of thousands of
American and Filipino soldiers
00:18:50.16\00:18:53.26
were captured
and forced to march
00:18:53.29\00:18:56.10
on what would become
known as the Bataan Death March.
00:18:56.13\00:18:59.73
¤[Sad music]¤
00:18:59.77\00:19:01.00
The horror of that march is
almost impossible for people
00:19:01.04\00:19:03.91
living in peacetime to imagine.
00:19:03.94\00:19:06.81
And so we ask ourselves, "Why?"
00:19:06.84\00:19:10.31
Why does a loving God allow
such horrors to take place?
00:19:10.35\00:19:15.25
The answers don't come easy.
00:19:15.28\00:19:18.22
Join It Is Written on
location in the Philippines
00:19:18.25\00:19:21.02
for "The March of
Death" as we explore together
00:19:21.06\00:19:24.69
that challenging
question: "Why? Why me?"
00:19:24.73\00:19:29.76
"The March of Death."
00:19:29.80\00:19:31.17
Watch now on It Is Written TV.
00:19:31.20\00:19:34.44
>>John Bradshaw: "In
the beginning God created
00:19:38.77\00:19:40.61
the heaven and the earth,"
00:19:40.64\00:19:42.31
and when He did so, He
gave to the human family
00:19:42.34\00:19:45.41
the ability and
freedom to think and to do.
00:19:45.45\00:19:49.42
We were given freedom of choice.
00:19:49.45\00:19:52.35
But after sin entered the world,
00:19:52.39\00:19:54.56
we inherited from Adam
and Eve a fallen nature.
00:19:54.59\00:19:59.46
We're born with a
tendency towards evil.
00:19:59.49\00:20:03.16
David wrote in Psalm 58:3,
00:20:04.17\00:20:06.94
"The wicked are
estranged from the womb:
00:20:06.97\00:20:10.17
they go astray as soon as
they be born, speaking lies."
00:20:10.21\00:20:15.18
The Bible shows us
what we're truly capable of,
00:20:17.65\00:20:20.65
both for good and for evil,
00:20:20.68\00:20:23.39
and in some Bible
personalities, you see both.
00:20:23.42\00:20:27.32
We'll take a look at
one incredible example
00:20:27.36\00:20:29.36
in just a moment.
00:20:29.39\00:20:31.33
There was a lot of
race-based hatred in the Bible,
00:20:31.36\00:20:35.40
and some of the most
breathtaking examples
00:20:35.43\00:20:37.97
of murderous hatred are
found where you'd least expect.
00:20:38.00\00:20:43.20
In Jesus' day, the Jews and
the Samaritans hated each other.
00:20:43.24\00:20:47.98
On one occasion, Jesus
was heading to Jerusalem,
00:20:48.01\00:20:51.18
and He was planning to
spend the night en route
00:20:51.21\00:20:54.92
in a Samaritan village.
00:20:54.95\00:20:56.79
James and John went
ahead to get things ready.
00:20:56.82\00:21:00.06
But the Samaritans told
James and John to get lost.
00:21:00.09\00:21:03.69
They didn't want any
Jews spending the night
00:21:03.73\00:21:05.46
in their village.
00:21:05.49\00:21:06.93
James and John were furious.
00:21:06.96\00:21:08.73
They came to
Jesus and they said,
00:21:08.76\00:21:10.47
"Lord, do you want us to
call fire down from heaven
00:21:10.50\00:21:14.34
and burn them up, like
the prophet Elijah did?"
00:21:14.37\00:21:18.14
Now, think about this.
00:21:18.17\00:21:19.41
This was James and John, John
who wrote the Gospel of John,
00:21:19.44\00:21:23.71
and the little Johns,
and the book of Revelation.
00:21:23.75\00:21:26.68
They were asking Jesus if
they could incinerate a village
00:21:26.72\00:21:31.35
full of people.
00:21:31.39\00:21:32.85
Where did this kind
of hatred come from?
00:21:32.89\00:21:37.49
Now, consider the Apostle Paul.
00:21:37.53\00:21:39.59
This is that case
study I said we'd look at.
00:21:39.63\00:21:42.06
Acts 14 says,
rather matter-of-factly,
00:21:42.10\00:21:46.07
"Then Jews from
Antioch and Iconium came there;
00:21:46.10\00:21:50.14
and having
persuaded the multitudes,
00:21:50.17\00:21:52.31
they stoned Paul
00:21:52.34\00:21:54.14
and dragged him out of the
city, supposing him to be dead."
00:21:54.18\00:21:58.48
Now, this was
straight-up religious hatred.
00:21:58.51\00:22:02.55
He was brutalized simply
because of what he believed.
00:22:02.58\00:22:06.89
Acts 21:31 is speaking of Paul
when it rather casually says,
00:22:06.92\00:22:11.23
"And as they went
about to kill him..."
00:22:11.26\00:22:14.36
In Acts chapter 23, the
authorities have to protect Paul
00:22:14.40\00:22:17.90
from a mob because
they fear that that mob
00:22:17.93\00:22:20.10
is literally gonna
tear Paul to pieces.
00:22:20.14\00:22:23.41
Later in the same chapter,
00:22:23.44\00:22:24.91
a group of 40 men take a pledge
that they're not gonna eat
00:22:24.94\00:22:28.78
until after they
have killed Paul.
00:22:28.81\00:22:31.71
Now, they didn't kill Paul,
00:22:31.75\00:22:33.15
and the Bible doesn't say
exactly what happened to them,
00:22:33.18\00:22:35.42
so that means they
either broke their pledge
00:22:35.45\00:22:37.62
or got...really hungry.
00:22:37.65\00:22:41.46
Paul was persecuted owing
to a blind hatred brought about
00:22:41.49\00:22:45.36
simply because
of what he believed.
00:22:45.39\00:22:49.00
Now, earlier in
the book of Acts,
00:22:49.03\00:22:51.47
it was Paul
doing the persecuting.
00:22:51.50\00:22:54.40
The great Apostle
Paul, who wrote so much
00:22:54.44\00:22:57.07
of the New Testament,
00:22:57.11\00:22:58.44
was himself responsible
for the deaths of many people.
00:22:58.47\00:23:04.18
Again, based solely
upon what they believed.
00:23:04.21\00:23:10.05
Even Paul was
capable of the worst crimes.
00:23:10.09\00:23:14.92
And we've seen this
many times around our world.
00:23:14.96\00:23:17.99
Northern Ireland was divided
owing to a political dispute
00:23:18.03\00:23:21.33
drawn basically
along religious lines.
00:23:21.36\00:23:24.43
In the Middle Ages,
the Roman Catholic Church
00:23:24.47\00:23:26.47
ruthlessly persecuted
millions of Protestants.
00:23:26.50\00:23:29.64
But there were times
those Protestants gained
00:23:29.67\00:23:32.11
the ascendancy, and
they became the persecutors.
00:23:32.14\00:23:36.21
¤[Melancholy music]¤
00:23:36.24\00:23:39.55
So who does this?
00:23:41.55\00:23:43.25
A lot of crime, a lot of
evil is carried out by people
00:23:43.28\00:23:46.55
you would not think
are capable of doing so.
00:23:46.59\00:23:50.26
But we all are. We are fallen.
00:23:50.29\00:23:54.30
It's what sin has done.
00:23:54.30\00:23:56.46
But here's the
really good news in this.
00:23:57.13\00:24:01.00
No one has to cave in to
hate or racism or animosity
00:24:01.04\00:24:07.44
or any kind of sin.
00:24:07.48\00:24:09.44
We can all be kept by the
grace of God through the power
00:24:09.48\00:24:14.42
of the Holy Spirit
at work in our life.
00:24:14.45\00:24:18.25
No matter your situation,
00:24:18.29\00:24:19.59
no matter what
you're wrestling with,
00:24:19.62\00:24:22.02
no matter what
your background is,
00:24:22.06\00:24:23.69
no matter what
your challenge is,
00:24:23.73\00:24:26.33
God can do this for you.
00:24:26.36\00:24:29.26
That's why we pray
in the Lord's Prayer,
00:24:29.30\00:24:32.13
"Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."
00:24:32.17\00:24:36.87
That's Matthew 6:13.
00:24:36.91\00:24:39.21
First Corinthians 10:13 says,
00:24:39.24\00:24:41.64
"No temptation has overtaken you
00:24:41.68\00:24:43.45
except such as is common to man;
00:24:43.48\00:24:46.21
but God is faithful,
00:24:46.25\00:24:48.08
who will not
allow you to be tempted
00:24:48.12\00:24:49.95
beyond what you are able,
00:24:49.98\00:24:51.85
but with the temptation will
also make the way of escape,
00:24:51.89\00:24:56.56
that you may be
able to bear it."
00:24:56.59\00:24:58.63
Philippians 2:13 says that
God "works in you both to will
00:24:58.66\00:25:03.50
and to do for
His good pleasure."
00:25:03.53\00:25:06.63
Reporting on the aftermath
of the destruction of Greenwood,
00:25:06.67\00:25:11.04
The Tulsa Tribune wrote this
about black residents returning
00:25:11.07\00:25:15.64
to what was left of their homes:
00:25:15.68\00:25:18.41
"As they passed the
city's most traveled streets,
00:25:18.45\00:25:22.02
they held both hands
high above their heads,
00:25:22.05\00:25:24.75
their hats in one hand,
00:25:24.79\00:25:26.69
a token of their submission
to the white man's authority.
00:25:26.72\00:25:30.93
They will not return
to the homes they had
00:25:30.96\00:25:33.19
on Tuesday afternoon,
but to heaps of ashes,
00:25:33.23\00:25:37.77
the angry white man's reprisal
for the wrong inflicted on them
00:25:37.80\00:25:43.51
by the inferior race."
00:25:43.54\00:25:45.24
So who writes that?
Who thinks like that?
00:25:46.88\00:25:50.91
Well, the truth is...
people just like you and me,
00:25:50.95\00:25:54.72
but people
whose hearts and minds
00:25:54.75\00:25:57.05
are not surrendered to God.
00:25:57.09\00:25:59.35
See, God gave to
us freedom of choice.
00:25:59.39\00:26:02.09
If your freedom of choice
is not surrendered to Him,
00:26:02.12\00:26:05.36
then there's no place that you
are not capable of going in sin.
00:26:05.39\00:26:10.80
But when your life
is surrendered to God,
00:26:10.83\00:26:13.10
that's when you're kept out
of hate and in the hands of God.
00:26:13.13\00:26:18.57
So how is it with you?
00:26:18.61\00:26:20.38
Are you
surrendered to God today,
00:26:20.41\00:26:21.88
or is there something that
must be surrendered to Him now?
00:26:21.91\00:26:25.31
If there is, I want to
encourage you to give your life,
00:26:25.35\00:26:28.92
to give your freedom of
choice completely to God.
00:26:28.95\00:26:33.09
>>John: It's the
challenge that confronts
00:26:34.89\00:26:36.79
every human heart: evil.
00:26:36.83\00:26:39.39
How can you be kept from sin?
00:26:39.43\00:26:41.40
And why do everyday people
commit truly despicable acts?
00:26:41.43\00:26:45.30
Get the free offer,
00:26:45.33\00:26:46.80
"Evil: The Challenge
of the Sinful Heart."
00:26:46.84\00:26:49.27
Simply call now: 800-253-300,
00:26:49.30\00:26:52.81
800-253-3000.
00:26:52.84\00:26:54.81
It's yours free.
00:26:54.84\00:26:56.88
Visit us online at iiwoffer.com.
00:26:56.91\00:27:00.52
Call 800-253-3000.
00:27:00.55\00:27:03.59
>>John Bradshaw:
Let's pray together now.
00:27:05.49\00:27:07.79
Our Father in heaven, we realize
when we look into the Bible
00:27:07.82\00:27:11.13
what we are truly capable of.
00:27:11.16\00:27:13.96
We look around the world--
we see the depths of sin.
00:27:14.00\00:27:18.13
We realize that could be
us; perhaps it has been us.
00:27:18.17\00:27:22.20
I thank You for forgiveness,
and I thank You for power,
00:27:22.24\00:27:25.64
the power of the Holy
Spirit in our lives keeping us
00:27:25.67\00:27:28.81
where You want us to be kept.
00:27:28.84\00:27:31.38
Lord, the difference
between living a life in You
00:27:31.41\00:27:35.18
and a life of sin
and shame is Jesus in us.
00:27:35.22\00:27:39.49
Fill us with Your presence.
00:27:39.52\00:27:40.59
Keep us now, I pray,
00:27:40.62\00:27:42.46
in Jesus' name.
00:27:42.49\00:27:44.49
Amen.
00:27:44.53\00:27:45.89
Thank you so
much for joining me.
00:27:45.93\00:27:47.23
I'm looking forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:27:47.23\00:27:49.53
Until then, remember:
00:27:49.56\00:27:51.43
"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:27:51.47\00:27:55.30
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:27:55.34\00:27:59.47
¤[Theme music]¤
00:27:59.51\00:28:09.62
¤[Theme music]¤
00:28:09.62\00:28:22.56