The Tulsa Race Massacre is just one example of Black history that many Americans have missed or ignored.
He was aghast that history classes and books had taught him about things like Britain's Stamp Act and the Whiskey Rebellion, but nothing about the burning of Black Wall Street. As someone who considers himself a lay historian, he believed he should have known about the thousands of Black Americans who lost their homes and community. |
Hanks wanted to take responsibility for his lack of awareness, and also to argue that schools and the entertainment industry need to center Black history — not just Tulsa, but history that has been systematically ignored like the Slocum massacre of 1910 or the Red Summer of 1919 — and stop "placing white feelings over Black experience — literally Black lives in this case." |
Hanks's essay drew comments from many readers about how they, too, had never heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre until recently. Some learned by watching the terrific HBO series "Watchmen." Others from newspaper articles as this year's centennial of Tulsa approached. |
One reader wrote, "I have two degrees in history, and have taught history for years, and it is just abundantly clear that we as a society know so little about our nation's past — even though it's vitally important to understanding our present and building a better future." |
In sharing his own experience with school and popular culture, and acknowledging that his own film projects haven't grappled with the history of Black people, Hanks is trying to invite others to ask themselves why we learn and don't learn certain parts of our shared American history. |
It was important to him not to seem like he was preaching or lecturing, but to encourage a conversation — which is one of the core values of Times Opinion. |
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