1921 Race Massacre Eyewitness Account Released In New Book Recognized At Greenwood Rising

A new book about the Tulsa Race Massacre that took decades to get published, is now part of an exhibit at Greenwood Rising.

"Murder in the Streets" offers an eyewitness account from a white, Choctaw teenager who lived in Tulsa and described the massacre in vivid detail.

"I am certain that at no other time in my life have I been as hot as on the day of the riot," the author writes.

William Phillips, nicknamed "Choc" for being part Choctaw, writes, "The warmth of a normal June day, plus the heat from burning buildings caused great drops of perspiration to ooze from every pore in my body, soak my hair, and drip from the end of my nose..."

Choc's account, not put on paper until the 60s, in some ways reads like a diary. He describes what he saw as a 19-year-old with his friends.

The crowd at the courthouse where Dick Rowland was held, accused of assaulting a young woman on an elevator, the first shot fired, and "the mob bent on the total obliteration of everything destructible."

"Since we were spectators and not involved in destroying anything, we had much more time to observe what was happening than those who were always rushing on to the next object they were bent on exterminating," Choc wrote.

Larry Phillips is the author's son.

"My dad had almost a photographic memory and remembered everything," Larry said.

"I knew that he was gonna write one probably my whole life, because he talked about the Race Massacre at various times when people would listen to him,” Larry said.

Larry said that wasn't often. However, people are ready to listen, perhaps now more than ever, with many wanting information about what was once Tulsa's secret.

"No tornado, earthquake, or other phenomena of nature ever destroyed a city in the USA so completely,” Hannibal B. Johnson said, reading from the book.

What makes "Murder in the Streets" unique, Johnson said, is that it was written by a white Choctaw witness.

"We don't just want the black perspective on this historic and horrific event that was the massacre of 1921,” he said. “We want a more well-rounded perspective."

Johnson, an author and historian who has written several books on the massacre and Black Wall Street, wrote the prologue to Choc's book.

He encourages readers to, "Allow Phillips' account to transport you back to the Roaring Twenties; to 1921 Tulsa. Imagine what it must have been like. Contemplate the difference that race made. Consider, 100 years later, the extent to which race still makes a perceptible, palpable difference."

Johnson calls the book "remarkable," although, he said nothing surprised him.

Choc writes, "It is not the purpose of the writer to assess responsibility for the riot. There was great wrong done on both sides."

Johnson said context is key and the reader should remember this was a time when "white supremacy was the guiding philosophy."

"Even people who consider themselves to be fair-minded and non-racist would make statements like that,” Johnson said.

In the book, Choc points to a group of armed black men for "creating conditions for the riot," by threatening to burn down the courthouse.

"Even O.W. Gurley, sometimes considered the father of the Greenwood District, of Black Wall Street, he after the massacre, in part, blamed some black agitators for, you know, stoking the hostility that lead to the ultimate massacre,” Johnson said. “There are even Black folks who made this claim, but again, consider the environment in which these people lived. They lived in an environment where white supremacy was the guiding philosophy. If that is the case, then even Black folks are affected by that. It's called internalized oppression."

A century later, we have the luxury of time, context and resources to help us understand what happened.

It is recognized that no matter what led up to the massacre, an angry, white mob still chose to kill and destroy hundreds of homes and businesses, changing Tulsa forever.

"I think the whole idea of this book is to make people understand that people need to respect each other,” Larry said. “And they need to understand each other and they need to think about things before they do it."

Choc died in 1991. The book was published in October of 2021.

"The fact that it happened and nobody wanted to talk about it, I think that really bothered me. Because my dad tried endlessly to get it published,” Larry said.

It’s not only published now, but the manuscript and the typewriter used to put it together, are also on display for visitors at Greenwood Rising.

"I kept it all these years, not realizing that it had a purpose,” Larry said. “And the purpose was to be here in this museum and to represent my dad."

Choc writes, "Watching the terrible episode develop step by step and knowing how wrong the entire affair was, has caused me to read about, study, and research riots and confrontations for years. Hopefully sharing this knowledge will help prevent others from becoming victims."

His son Larry echoes a similar thought more than 100 years after what his dad saw.

"I think the most important thing is that we perpetuate what's going on right now and don't let it cool off. Because things like this tend to cool off after a period of time. And we can't let this cool off,” Larry said. “That's what this museum is about. It's so people will remember and know that this can't happen again. It just can't."

There is a content warning on page six of the book saying, “The publisher and editors of this book debated long and hard over language and usage. We ultimately concluded that publication of this work will aid in documenting the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and that the original language should be maintained as a written reflection of attitudes and feelings of the times. We in no way endorse or condone the use of such offensive language in a current context.”