The African-American Dream
The African American communities began to gather into Indian Territory, creating towns after the Civil War when the former slaves of the Five Civilized Tribes settled together (Black Communities After The Civil War). They settled closely because they needed each other for security purposes on both economic and safety levels. These “All-Black towns” affected Oklahoma greatly when the Land Run of 1889 created more so-called “free land” (Larry). Founders of these towns convinced African-Americans that this was the purest land of opportunity, and for them at that time, it was.
Oklahoma had twenty-four of these towns at one point but currently only thirteen still exist today. The remaining towns with only African American citizens in Oklahoma are Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Redbird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee, and Vernon (Larry). These towns are remembered for their legacy for …show more content…
McCabe is known for making Oklahoma the destination of choice for African-Americans. He was credited this due to him spending quite a bit of time in Oklahoma showing his extreme belief in the opportunities it has for his race. He also was an attorney and farmer, and help establish Langston as a town in 1890 (Roberson). This also led African Americans to attend higher education here in Oklahoma. Now known as Langston University, it helped the town through the Great Depression (O’Dell). The Great Depression hit many of these towns hard due to the fact that they highly depended on agricultural profits. Including relying on cotton and other crops to yield in their ability to maintain a stable community. Although these towns were mostly African-American citizens they faced many difficulties because it was still part of a racist country. White citizens were resistant to these communities of all African-Americans, resulting in forcing “mixed but racially segregated communities incapable of self support”
The African American communities began to gather into Indian Territory, creating towns after the Civil War when the former slaves of the Five Civilized Tribes settled together (Black Communities After The Civil War). They settled closely because they needed each other for security purposes on both economic and safety levels. These “All-Black towns” affected Oklahoma greatly when the Land Run of 1889 created more so-called “free land” (Larry). Founders of these towns convinced African-Americans that this was the purest land of opportunity, and for them at that time, it was.
Oklahoma had twenty-four of these towns at one point but currently only thirteen still exist today. The remaining towns with only African American citizens in Oklahoma are Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Redbird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee, and Vernon (Larry). These towns are remembered for their legacy for …show more content…
McCabe is known for making Oklahoma the destination of choice for African-Americans. He was credited this due to him spending quite a bit of time in Oklahoma showing his extreme belief in the opportunities it has for his race. He also was an attorney and farmer, and help establish Langston as a town in 1890 (Roberson). This also led African Americans to attend higher education here in Oklahoma. Now known as Langston University, it helped the town through the Great Depression (O’Dell). The Great Depression hit many of these towns hard due to the fact that they highly depended on agricultural profits. Including relying on cotton and other crops to yield in their ability to maintain a stable community. Although these towns were mostly African-American citizens they faced many difficulties because it was still part of a racist country. White citizens were resistant to these communities of all African-Americans, resulting in forcing “mixed but racially segregated communities incapable of self support”