What was the Tulsa riot? The Tulsa riot occurred in one of the wealthiest African-American communities in the America, the Greenwood District. Dick Rowland, a young black man, was riding in an elevator with a woman name Sarah Page, on May 30, 1921. Rowland had fallen on Page. Word spread throughout the city, and Rowland was arrested. An exaggerated report of the incident was released in the Tulsa Tribune the next day. Many whites saw this as an attempted rape and wanted to lynch Rowland. Blacks and whites clashed in the Greenwood District with over 300 blacks being killed and thousands left without homes when the district was burned to the ground. Martial law was declared and the National Guard was sent to help put out fires and arrest and
