Tulsa Race Massacre

Source: Oklahoma Historical Society / Getty

ICYMI, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre has been added in to the curriculum of Oklahoma schools. We have to say we’re pretty convinced the move was prompted by HBO’s groundbreaking Watchmen series, as the entire backstory for the show is based on the historical event, in which hundreds and hundreds of Black people were killed.

From CNN:

“Oklahoma leaders announced Wednesday the state will be moving forward with embedding the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre into the curriculum of all Oklahoma schools. On the last day of May in 1921, a white mob estimated at 10,000 people descended on the Greenwood District — then an affluent black neighborhood in Tulsa known as Black Wall Street — and burned it to the ground. Hundreds of African-Americans were killed. Hundreds more were unaccounted for. But that part of history went unmentioned for decades in classrooms across the state. The killings remained ‘Tulsa’s dirty secret,’ state Sen. Kevin Matthews said at a news conference Wednesday.”

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According to the site, schools have already started teaching about the massacre but the official syllabus is still on its way.

“And while school districts have begun teaching about the massacre, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said in the news conference, the state’s education department will be releasing a curriculum framework this April to bolster those efforts throughout the state,” CNN goes on to say. “The framework, Hofmeister said, will give teachers ‘extra support and resources’ when teaching about the massacre.”

Beginning in the fall, kids from elementary to high school will learn about the massacre, as Hofmeister ensures the curriculums will all be “grade-appropriate” level.