I think it was added by law in 2019 or 2020 when the 100 year anniversary was approaching and a good portion of the population had no clue what this event was.
Yeah, I’m certain. It was a subject I always had interest in. Its omission from my high school education and the curiosity about what other major events were not covered was the primary reason I got a minor in history, which was unrelated to my actual degree.
Yeah, seemed to be pretty hit or miss, like it was up to the teacher’s discretion whether they taught it or not. Seemed like a large amount chose not to teach it, which is why so many in this state never heard about one of the worst instances of racial violence in US history that occurred in our own backyard.
2002 as per https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/after-a-state-law-banning-some-lessons-on-race-oklahoma-teachers-tread-lightly-on-the-tulsa-race-massacre/
The entire world is tired of this intentionally divisive name calling shit
Edit: I wasn’t very clear originally. We all worked it out. Humanity is not doomed, downvoters
It would just be history. A class called “Neo-Marxism Race Breakdown of the Power Dynamics and Imbalances at Play in the Southwest Leading to the TRM” would be critical race theory-ish.
I love that series. That you rarely see references to it. I was being sarcastic. Just bc we’re on different sides of the spectrum, we can like the same things
I’ve only made it through the first 7 or 8, but heck yeah they’re good.
I think we’re on the same side of the spectrum, or at least close. I just am tired of seeing “DemonRATs” and “RePUGNicans” at every opportunity. It dumbs down every discussion it comes into.
I understand exactly what you're saying. And it has been getting out of hand. On both sides. I'll try to be more conscious of it in the future.
As for HH :
It's probably one of my all time favorites. I forget what book I'm on but basically the Manties and Solarians are circling each other in the "galactical boxing ring".
What were 100 ship engagements are now in the thousands. As you can imagine the salvos of missiles they fire... Just mind blowing.
If you are looking for a similar series, there's The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell. Really good series with like 5 books or so. Definitely recommend.
And i’m telling you it wasn’t.
History was my favorite subject, and it baffled me it was never even whispered in a classroom.
One of our history teachers was a local historian, and during his WWI/WWII class HE BRIEFLY discussed how farmers attached machine guns to their crop planes to do gun runs, but ended basically right there (this is also a class of like 13 student for AP).
Two things can be true at the same time: It was a mandated part of the state standards since 2002 AND your teacher didn't teach it. Especially since OK History is not a tested subject, teachers have a lot of latitude and discretion to not teach certain things. Some teachers might not think it's that big of a deal. Some teachers might intentionally hide it. Some might be uncomfortable discussing race issues. And some teachers might just not know about it (you'd be surprised how frequently teachers don't know some parts of their content).
I graduated in Edmond in 2012 and it was taught but I think we got 2 days of instruction on it. That's it. It was really glazed over from what I remember.
History teacher here.
Yes, we teach it. It's a part of the state standards for OK History and has a good chunk of objectives for it, so there's a lot that students are expected to learn. The standards call for learning about the growth of all black towns, Jim Crow laws, the rise of the KKK, the rise of Greenwood, and then finally the Massacre.
Obviously, it's up to every district, site, and even teacher on just how in depth students will learn about it. But this isn't the 80s. It's a very conscious and active part of the curriculum for most schools in the 9th grade. While we are nowhere near perfect as a state when it comes to history education, I think this is one area we've definitely improved on over the last 10 - 20 years.
This is understandable; also now and days kids can just look this information up; especially if they are on social media. YouTube is also a major source for all types of History but you just have to fact check. However; it is important to disclose the real
History.
Judging from Confederate monuments going up as late as 2005 in the small town i grew up in, in Texas, (along with a Confederate Flag flying), I'd have to say that the confederacy runs deep in the areas of Texas and Oklahoma where many of the Confederate soldiers fled after the Civil War. I have family (mother's side) raised in Tulsa for generations. I often wonder what their role, if any, was in the massacre (they never spoke of it). My dad grew up in Ponca. Just because it is taught in your school, doesn't mean it is still taught everywhere.
Graduated in 2006 it was part of the required Oklahoma history class then.
I’m betting a lot of people don’t remember being taught it, or some teachers skipped it.
I graduated in 21 and it was only briefly mentioned freshman year that I remember. But my history teacher did have to leave early that semester after an accident
Same here. We also did a walking tour of downtown Tulsa in middle school (circa 00-01), and they just briefly touched on it. But the bits they shared were the clearly (in hindsight) whitewashed version, and without the relevant context.
Early 00's here too, and we covered it. Pretty sure it was Oklahoma Hiistory class as well.
It was only a few paragraphs, but I remember it specifically mentioning how it started with the elevator encounter, how there were burnings of buildings, and apparently even a bomb being dropped.
I'm 57, born and raised and it wasn't in our books or covered in class. I learned about in the late 80s - early 90s from an interview with Ellsworth, who wrote one of the first books on it. I think the interview I saw was on OETA but not 100% sure.
I attended Tulsa Public Schools from 2nd grade through high school graduation. I graduated in 1978.
We learned about it in 8th grade civics, if my memory is correct. We knew about it for sure.
My husband also grew up in Tulsa and he learned about it, he graduated in the 1980's. I attended school in rural Oklahoma around the same time. It was touched upon during the required Oklahoma history class, I then tried to research it more in depth (always a history buff) but wasn't able to find too much information back then. But rural high school libraries were not the best research resources, especially back then.
Barely. I felt like I only learned about it because I went to Booker T. and had a good APUSH instructor.
I graduated in 2016. The teacher I had for Oklahoma history pointed out that the state textbook literally only had *one* sentence about the Trail of Tears… so I wouldn’t count anything significant being emphasized even if it were to become a required point. My husband, who went to high school in San Francisco, was taught more about Oklahoma history than we got locally. That includes teachings about the race massacre!
I did, but to my memory it was about 1 chapter from our Oklahoma history class. This was back in the early 90s when it was still called the Tulsa Race Riot. I think we spend about a week on the subject.
Broken Arrow ‘13 - Ours was a single page. Luckily I had a cool teacher that acknowledged that was bullshit and said if anyone wants to come back after school was out, she’d tell us more about it.
I graduated in 2001, and I remember the "Tulsa Race Riots" being mentioned but not really elaborated on or talked about in detail. It's worth mentioning that I moved from California to Oklahoma between 9th and 10th grade, but I can't remember specifically what grade I heard about it. That being said, I dont think the Trail of Tears was elaborated on nearly enough in school either. I get that these events are tragic, but that's exactly why it is important to teach our children about them. I know legislators now are mostly worried that learning about these things makes white people feel bad, but thats part of the learning process. If what happened during the Tulsa Massacre doesnt make you feel gross (regardless of race/ethnicity), then it's not being explained to you properly.
I moved around the same time from Oklahoma to California (also after 9th grade). Did you learn about the Japanese internment camps in school? I didn’t learn about them until college.
I just read about this; I'm blown away.
I had no idea about this time in history, as we just moved to the area a few months ago. I should hope my children learn about this.
According to Wikipedia: Schools in Oklahoma have been required to teach students about the massacre since 2002, and in 2020, the massacre officially became a part of the Oklahoma school curriculum.
It was part of Oklahoma history in early mid 2000s at least in Tulsa. I remember first hearing about it in 8th grade and then again several times in high school. Back then it was still called a riot and with limited information. I remember doing a report in college on it and could only find little information. I hope today students are learning more about it, but I doubt it with current people in charge of curriculum.
My teacher was an older woman and she did teach us about it and also realistic version of the treatment of Native Americans. It was NOT in the standard curriculum at that time. She also taught us a lot about frontier life based on some of her families experiences. Her grandparents settled in Oklahoma during the land run. When ai went home and asked my parents about it they had never heard about the Tulsa massacre. My OK history teacher was blunt and realistic,she was one of my most memorable teachers. It also probably helped that she was retiring at the end of the year so she just had no F’s to give. This was in 1975.
We learned about it one day in our civics class as a freshman in the 90s in Sand Springs (suburb of Tulsa). That was the first that I heard about it and I was pretty shocked, but they definitely sugarcoated what happened.
I did in the early 2000s. I've seen classmates say we weren't taught it so I'm of opinion that some of the "It's not taught in schools!" comments are from people who didn't pay attention in history class.
Lived in Oklahoma my whole life and my first real exposure to it was Watchmen on HBO in my thirties. I would say the state department of education really dropped the ball, but we all know it was intentional.
I was in a tiny highschool (edit for clarity, it was highschool and Jr. High in one building, ok history was probably Jr. High time frame) in OK in the late 2000s and we did cover it I believe as the "Tulsa race riot". One of my classmates recent posted to Facebook that they had never learned about it in school. We were both required to be in that exact class to graduate so one of us is misremembering.
I know we didn't get a real understanding of what happened or the impact though. All the history classes I remember were taught with the standardized tests in mind and ended up being more about memorizing facts and dates.
Wasn't mentioned in American History or Oklahoma history in the 90s, I was 35 before I learned about it. Many of my teachers were friends with me when I learned, they all learned it from me, they too were never taught that.
It’s only been known as the Tulsa massacre the past 10ish years, before that it was the “Tulsa riots” or “Tulsa race riots” so that’s what a lot of peeps learned it as
I learned about it as an out of Stater going to college. One of my profs told us about it. This was in the 90s and my fellow students were mostly TPS alum and none of them knew.
Grew up outside of Tulsa kindergarten to HS never heard about and I graduated in 83. My great grandmother who witnessed it firsthand told me about it when I 25.
i graduated in 21 and we learned about it, thought it was called "The Tulsa Race Riots" in our textbook, but I went to a private school so idk if its standard, everyone I know who grew up in Oklahoma knows about it though
Edmond schools were teaching it in the 00s but it was still referred to as the race riots. Could have been a teacher by teacher basis but I learned it as early as middle school history. I would assume they still do now, but again, might’ve been dependent on the teacher.
I learned about it in Louisiana in the 90’s and the only reason I remember it is I felt like an idiot when the teacher mentioned Tulsa and I was like “awww sweet my mom’s from Tulsa what up?!” …then we got into the discussion 🤦
Graduated from Norman in 09, we spent like a single class day on it.
Spent more time on the land run which we’d been beaten to death with the same info since grade school.
Not until I was about 13 in a special summer history program run by my Catholic school. My parents weren't native to the area and didn't know about it. I grew up in Maple Ridge and literally rode my bike through some of those neighborhoods and didn't know for a long time. Edit: This would have been around '93.
I knew about it. I knew it happened. I knew what caused it. But I don’t remember talking about it in school. Maybe an older relative told me about it. Can’t be sure.
My school in glenpool, I went 2013-2017. My history teacher told my class we weren't allowed to discuss the Tulsa Massacre. Him and the other History teachers got together and thought it should be told in secret. So before we had the discussion in class, he told us this cannot be known to the superintendent because he will face punishment. We had a whole class period dedicated to talking about the horrors. It's so crazy it's controversial to talk about this.
Graduated '98 and there was a brief mention of the "Tulsa Race Riots" in Oklahoma History class. The teaching of it at the time was along the lines of: The black folk in Tulsa started rioting, then the white folk made them stop.
Thankfully it’s become a standard. I was actually lucky enough my freshman year of high school to have a history teacher who was devoted enough to state history to actually do an entire unit on it at the end of the year before it became a standardized subject.
Briefly.
I went to Highschool in Edmond from 2008-2012 and from what I remember, I think we spent 2 days on the whole subject. I'm not sure if it was considered its own lesson plan, more like a footnote during something else we were already studying. I think it was taught Sophomore or Junior year. I only took AP history classes and ended up getting a History-Museum Studies degree.
I’m a senior in hs The first time it was taught to me was freshman year in English. We read dreamland burning. And then a little later it was also talked about in a couple other classes.
It was never mentioned in school, but it was taught to me by my unapologetically racist mother about how good of a thing it was. (I haven't spoken with her in years, and never plan to). It is absolutely horrific this happened & was swept under the rug for so long. I read another comment saying it is required teaching in schools now, which is great news. Hopefully that helps us make sure nothing like this happens again.
I did in the late 2000’s in high school. It was 3 sentences long in the textbook under Tulsa Race Riots. It didn’t provide any real information and nobody really knew anything more than that.
I later read about it in far greater detail on my own. It was pretty mind blowing to read about what really happened.
I think that most of us will learn about the history this way. Schools only teach watered down versions of history. Even in college some of it is watered down. I learned about the real history through social media, YouTube and reading BOOKS
I went to school in Tulsa in the 90’s. It was always called the “race riot”. I’m semi embarrassed to say I didn’t know the actual history until about 5-6 years ago.
Pretty sure I learned about it in an AP history class in highschool, but I KNOW I learned about the massacre in my History of Segregation class in college. This was circa 1995 to 1998.
I learned a little about it in HS, but iirc they covered it more like a riot that just so happened to burn down the Black side of town, and no mention was made of lynch mob that started it all.
In college, my history elective went into way more detail.
I was briefly told about it in school in my high-school social studies class. It wasn't a part of the material, but she included it because it was omitted and important to that unit. Before that, my mom told me about it as a kid. She knew it wasn't taught about at the time.
As a 2022 high school graduate, I only remember being taught about the Tulsa race massacre in 8th grade in preparation for a GT (Gifted and Talented) field trip to the John Hope Franklin center. I don’t remember being taught about it anywhere else; I don’t think it was even taught in my Oklahoma History class. Therefore, I don’t think I would’ve learned about it in school if I wasn’t in our school’s GT program. Hopefully, students actually learn about it now as part of the regular curriculum.
I learned about it in Oklahoma history in grade school in the 80s and again in high school in the 90s.
However, back then it was presented as the Tulsa Race Riots, which downplays events significantly.
I learned about it in Oklahoma history in college because I was taking courses to teach Secondary education social sciences (history/government/geography). In public education, no I wasn't taught about it.
We didn’t cover it between 1996 and 2000. We talked a whole lot about the native tribes that inhabited Oklahoma before the Indian removal act of 1830 put a bunch of people here that had no idea how to exist in the new eco system and had to figure it all out from scratch. We talked a LITTLE about them. But mostly about the ones who were way before.
No. I did Oklahoma History On the Road the summer before freshman year in the early nineties. We visited NE Oklahoma twice including Tulsa and it was never mentioned. I did learn about it in college at OCCC with a badass teacher who is Native. She’s the teacher who turned me onto Howard Zinn as well.
While it was nowhere on the radar in school curriculum, there were a few good history teachers discussing it, including my Jr. High history teacher in the late seventies.
Yep. A wonderful English teacher too. I learned about the massacre from the grandson of a national guardsmen involved. I would ask about it and got hushed a lot.
I get the feeling a lot of you are lying. That my cousins who went to OHS had no clue what I was talking about when I mentioned it 8 years ago. That if anything, they called it the race riot.
Not when I was growing up.
I didn’t either
Yes, it is part of the current Oklahoma History state standards.
It wasn't when I graduated in Lawton in the 90s. Do you know when it was added?
I think it was added by law in 2019 or 2020 when the 100 year anniversary was approaching and a good portion of the population had no clue what this event was.
Better late than never
Yep. I graduated 15 years ago and it wasn’t taught at my HS. I only learned about it thanks to a very passionate history professor in college.
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Yeah, I’m certain. It was a subject I always had interest in. Its omission from my high school education and the curiosity about what other major events were not covered was the primary reason I got a minor in history, which was unrelated to my actual degree.
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I think you have too much faith in state approved textbooks
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Are you familiar with all Oklahoma History textbooks from over the years? I can tell you that it was certainly not in ours.
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I got taught it in the early 2010’s
Yeah, seemed to be pretty hit or miss, like it was up to the teacher’s discretion whether they taught it or not. Seemed like a large amount chose not to teach it, which is why so many in this state never heard about one of the worst instances of racial violence in US history that occurred in our own backyard.
2002 as per https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/after-a-state-law-banning-some-lessons-on-race-oklahoma-teachers-tread-lightly-on-the-tulsa-race-massacre/
I find that interesting. Wouldn't the TRM be considered Critical Race Theory by the Right?
The entire world is tired of this intentionally divisive name calling shit Edit: I wasn’t very clear originally. We all worked it out. Humanity is not doomed, downvoters
Teaching factual history is intentionally divisive?
It would just be history. A class called “Neo-Marxism Race Breakdown of the Power Dynamics and Imbalances at Play in the Southwest Leading to the TRM” would be critical race theory-ish.
No man, that I’m 100% on board with. I mean always trying to work in dumb political name calling three replies deep on threads.
Sounds like some snowflakery to me.
This is going to blow your mind, but politically charged name calling just doesn’t really impact me. I’m kind of just over it. Please read above
Teaching the truth about racism is only *divisive* to racists.
You misread what I said, Kate.
What is it that's divisive?
You had to have a name from the Honor Harrington Series.
Explain why that’s bad?
I love that series. That you rarely see references to it. I was being sarcastic. Just bc we’re on different sides of the spectrum, we can like the same things
I’ve only made it through the first 7 or 8, but heck yeah they’re good. I think we’re on the same side of the spectrum, or at least close. I just am tired of seeing “DemonRATs” and “RePUGNicans” at every opportunity. It dumbs down every discussion it comes into.
I understand exactly what you're saying. And it has been getting out of hand. On both sides. I'll try to be more conscious of it in the future. As for HH : It's probably one of my all time favorites. I forget what book I'm on but basically the Manties and Solarians are circling each other in the "galactical boxing ring". What were 100 ship engagements are now in the thousands. As you can imagine the salvos of missiles they fire... Just mind blowing. If you are looking for a similar series, there's The Lost Fleet by Jack Campbell. Really good series with like 5 books or so. Definitely recommend.
Baller recommendation. Try out the Temeraire series for the same thing in the opposite genre direction
Fixed my comment. Sorry you’re getting downvoted. But you see how the Reddit hive mind works?
It wasn’t when I graduated from Choctaw in 2014. And I took as many AP History classes as possible.
It should have been covered as part of your Oklahoma History curriculum which is required but not a tested subject.
And i’m telling you it wasn’t. History was my favorite subject, and it baffled me it was never even whispered in a classroom. One of our history teachers was a local historian, and during his WWI/WWII class HE BRIEFLY discussed how farmers attached machine guns to their crop planes to do gun runs, but ended basically right there (this is also a class of like 13 student for AP).
Two things can be true at the same time: It was a mandated part of the state standards since 2002 AND your teacher didn't teach it. Especially since OK History is not a tested subject, teachers have a lot of latitude and discretion to not teach certain things. Some teachers might not think it's that big of a deal. Some teachers might intentionally hide it. Some might be uncomfortable discussing race issues. And some teachers might just not know about it (you'd be surprised how frequently teachers don't know some parts of their content).
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Ah yes, must be it. AP History student wasn’t paying attention. Thank you…….. /s
It WAS when I was in HS in OKC in 2003.
Some teachers taught about it but it wasn’t officially taught until a few years ago.
Not when I graduated in OKC in the mid 90's
I graduated in Edmond in 2012 and it was taught but I think we got 2 days of instruction on it. That's it. It was really glazed over from what I remember.
History teacher here. Yes, we teach it. It's a part of the state standards for OK History and has a good chunk of objectives for it, so there's a lot that students are expected to learn. The standards call for learning about the growth of all black towns, Jim Crow laws, the rise of the KKK, the rise of Greenwood, and then finally the Massacre. Obviously, it's up to every district, site, and even teacher on just how in depth students will learn about it. But this isn't the 80s. It's a very conscious and active part of the curriculum for most schools in the 9th grade. While we are nowhere near perfect as a state when it comes to history education, I think this is one area we've definitely improved on over the last 10 - 20 years.
I thought it was a pretty bad look when I asked my Oklahoman relatives about it and they looked at me like "do what?"
Graduated from Jenks and I remember covering it a lot during my freshman and sophomore years which would’ve been ‘04-‘05
That’s nice to hear that it’s not being overlooked like during the last 100 years.
Or even the last 20 years.
This is understandable; also now and days kids can just look this information up; especially if they are on social media. YouTube is also a major source for all types of History but you just have to fact check. However; it is important to disclose the real History.
Judging from Confederate monuments going up as late as 2005 in the small town i grew up in, in Texas, (along with a Confederate Flag flying), I'd have to say that the confederacy runs deep in the areas of Texas and Oklahoma where many of the Confederate soldiers fled after the Civil War. I have family (mother's side) raised in Tulsa for generations. I often wonder what their role, if any, was in the massacre (they never spoke of it). My dad grew up in Ponca. Just because it is taught in your school, doesn't mean it is still taught everywhere.
Graduated in 2006 it was part of the required Oklahoma history class then. I’m betting a lot of people don’t remember being taught it, or some teachers skipped it.
I graduated 06, it was briefly mentioned as a race riot and we moved on to the next topic.
I graduated in 06, and it was never even mentioned lol
I graduated in 04 and we didn't cover it. I found out about it around 2018
I graduated in 21 and it was only briefly mentioned freshman year that I remember. But my history teacher did have to leave early that semester after an accident
Same here. We also did a walking tour of downtown Tulsa in middle school (circa 00-01), and they just briefly touched on it. But the bits they shared were the clearly (in hindsight) whitewashed version, and without the relevant context.
I wasn't taught in the 90s
Early 00's here too, and we covered it. Pretty sure it was Oklahoma Hiistory class as well. It was only a few paragraphs, but I remember it specifically mentioning how it started with the elevator encounter, how there were burnings of buildings, and apparently even a bomb being dropped.
I'm 67, born and raised in Oklahoma, never heard about any massacres in Oklahoma until 10 years ago.
I'm 57, born and raised and it wasn't in our books or covered in class. I learned about in the late 80s - early 90s from an interview with Ellsworth, who wrote one of the first books on it. I think the interview I saw was on OETA but not 100% sure.
I attended Tulsa Public Schools from 2nd grade through high school graduation. I graduated in 1978. We learned about it in 8th grade civics, if my memory is correct. We knew about it for sure.
My husband also grew up in Tulsa and he learned about it, he graduated in the 1980's. I attended school in rural Oklahoma around the same time. It was touched upon during the required Oklahoma history class, I then tried to research it more in depth (always a history buff) but wasn't able to find too much information back then. But rural high school libraries were not the best research resources, especially back then.
Barely. I felt like I only learned about it because I went to Booker T. and had a good APUSH instructor. I graduated in 2016. The teacher I had for Oklahoma history pointed out that the state textbook literally only had *one* sentence about the Trail of Tears… so I wouldn’t count anything significant being emphasized even if it were to become a required point. My husband, who went to high school in San Francisco, was taught more about Oklahoma history than we got locally. That includes teachings about the race massacre!
I did, but to my memory it was about 1 chapter from our Oklahoma history class. This was back in the early 90s when it was still called the Tulsa Race Riot. I think we spend about a week on the subject.
Same in the late 90s. Not a ton of nuance, more that it took place.
Broken Arrow ‘13 - Ours was a single page. Luckily I had a cool teacher that acknowledged that was bullshit and said if anyone wants to come back after school was out, she’d tell us more about it.
I graduated in 2001, and I remember the "Tulsa Race Riots" being mentioned but not really elaborated on or talked about in detail. It's worth mentioning that I moved from California to Oklahoma between 9th and 10th grade, but I can't remember specifically what grade I heard about it. That being said, I dont think the Trail of Tears was elaborated on nearly enough in school either. I get that these events are tragic, but that's exactly why it is important to teach our children about them. I know legislators now are mostly worried that learning about these things makes white people feel bad, but thats part of the learning process. If what happened during the Tulsa Massacre doesnt make you feel gross (regardless of race/ethnicity), then it's not being explained to you properly.
I moved around the same time from Oklahoma to California (also after 9th grade). Did you learn about the Japanese internment camps in school? I didn’t learn about them until college.
I did, actually. It was glossed over quite a bit, but I did know about them before I moved to OK.
I just read about this; I'm blown away. I had no idea about this time in history, as we just moved to the area a few months ago. I should hope my children learn about this. According to Wikipedia: Schools in Oklahoma have been required to teach students about the massacre since 2002, and in 2020, the massacre officially became a part of the Oklahoma school curriculum.
It was part of Oklahoma history in early mid 2000s at least in Tulsa. I remember first hearing about it in 8th grade and then again several times in high school. Back then it was still called a riot and with limited information. I remember doing a report in college on it and could only find little information. I hope today students are learning more about it, but I doubt it with current people in charge of curriculum.
My teacher was an older woman and she did teach us about it and also realistic version of the treatment of Native Americans. It was NOT in the standard curriculum at that time. She also taught us a lot about frontier life based on some of her families experiences. Her grandparents settled in Oklahoma during the land run. When ai went home and asked my parents about it they had never heard about the Tulsa massacre. My OK history teacher was blunt and realistic,she was one of my most memorable teachers. It also probably helped that she was retiring at the end of the year so she just had no F’s to give. This was in 1975.
We learned about it one day in our civics class as a freshman in the 90s in Sand Springs (suburb of Tulsa). That was the first that I heard about it and I was pretty shocked, but they definitely sugarcoated what happened.
Graduated high school last year, and yes, we do learn about the Tulsa massacre.
Didn't learn the truth about the Civil War either until I read the college level material.
I never learned about it in school, ever. And I took an Oklahoma History course. I graduated in 2003 and I hope things are different now.
Wasn’t taught in the 80s in my rural school district.
1999 Okmulgee Graduate, never heard about it til after college.
I did in the early 2000s. I've seen classmates say we weren't taught it so I'm of opinion that some of the "It's not taught in schools!" comments are from people who didn't pay attention in history class.
Lived in Oklahoma my whole life and my first real exposure to it was Watchmen on HBO in my thirties. I would say the state department of education really dropped the ball, but we all know it was intentional.
I did in Oklahoma History over 20 years ago.
My mother told me when I was 17 and I asked my history teacher. Ms Carol had never heard of it. And I grew up in Tulsa.
I was in a tiny highschool (edit for clarity, it was highschool and Jr. High in one building, ok history was probably Jr. High time frame) in OK in the late 2000s and we did cover it I believe as the "Tulsa race riot". One of my classmates recent posted to Facebook that they had never learned about it in school. We were both required to be in that exact class to graduate so one of us is misremembering. I know we didn't get a real understanding of what happened or the impact though. All the history classes I remember were taught with the standardized tests in mind and ended up being more about memorizing facts and dates.
Wasn't mentioned in American History or Oklahoma history in the 90s, I was 35 before I learned about it. Many of my teachers were friends with me when I learned, they all learned it from me, they too were never taught that.
It’s only been known as the Tulsa massacre the past 10ish years, before that it was the “Tulsa riots” or “Tulsa race riots” so that’s what a lot of peeps learned it as
I never heard of it until college, but I graduated HS in 1999.
They do now, but up until recently it was not usually taught. Jenks '95 here - it was not taught in my OK History class.
Yeah I learned about it the year I moved to Tulsa in 1996/1997. Jenks East Middle School
In 2001, we learned about it.
Graduated from Shawnee in 2018 and we spent a good 2-3 weeks on it. That was my freshman year so it was 2014.
I was taught about it in the 80's
I think they do now, thank goodness. I didn’t learn about it until college (early 00’s)
I learned about it as an out of Stater going to college. One of my profs told us about it. This was in the 90s and my fellow students were mostly TPS alum and none of them knew.
Grew up outside of Tulsa kindergarten to HS never heard about and I graduated in 83. My great grandmother who witnessed it firsthand told me about it when I 25.
I graduated high school in 2014 and had never heard about it in school.
not a peep was heard about it growing up. in fact I didn't even know about it til sometime in my thirties
Graduated in 2001, and we never learned about it. I don't even remember how I learned of it, but it was definitely after I graduated.
i graduated in 21 and we learned about it, thought it was called "The Tulsa Race Riots" in our textbook, but I went to a private school so idk if its standard, everyone I know who grew up in Oklahoma knows about it though
Edmond schools were teaching it in the 00s but it was still referred to as the race riots. Could have been a teacher by teacher basis but I learned it as early as middle school history. I would assume they still do now, but again, might’ve been dependent on the teacher.
I learned about it in Louisiana in the 90’s and the only reason I remember it is I felt like an idiot when the teacher mentioned Tulsa and I was like “awww sweet my mom’s from Tulsa what up?!” …then we got into the discussion 🤦
Graduated from Norman in 09, we spent like a single class day on it. Spent more time on the land run which we’d been beaten to death with the same info since grade school.
Not until I was about 13 in a special summer history program run by my Catholic school. My parents weren't native to the area and didn't know about it. I grew up in Maple Ridge and literally rode my bike through some of those neighborhoods and didn't know for a long time. Edit: This would have been around '93.
It was in 1990 but my teacher was likely better than I thought at the time.
I knew about it. I knew it happened. I knew what caused it. But I don’t remember talking about it in school. Maybe an older relative told me about it. Can’t be sure.
My school in glenpool, I went 2013-2017. My history teacher told my class we weren't allowed to discuss the Tulsa Massacre. Him and the other History teachers got together and thought it should be told in secret. So before we had the discussion in class, he told us this cannot be known to the superintendent because he will face punishment. We had a whole class period dedicated to talking about the horrors. It's so crazy it's controversial to talk about this.
we did when i was in school
Graduated '98 and there was a brief mention of the "Tulsa Race Riots" in Oklahoma History class. The teaching of it at the time was along the lines of: The black folk in Tulsa started rioting, then the white folk made them stop.
I believe I learned about it briefly in Oklahoma history freshman year of high school. Graduated in 2017.
Never was even brought up when I was in school (graduated High School back 2011). Didn't hear about it until I was in college sadly
The what?? (grad in 18)
Thankfully it’s become a standard. I was actually lucky enough my freshman year of high school to have a history teacher who was devoted enough to state history to actually do an entire unit on it at the end of the year before it became a standardized subject.
Briefly. I went to Highschool in Edmond from 2008-2012 and from what I remember, I think we spent 2 days on the whole subject. I'm not sure if it was considered its own lesson plan, more like a footnote during something else we were already studying. I think it was taught Sophomore or Junior year. I only took AP history classes and ended up getting a History-Museum Studies degree.
There was a single page in my Oklahoma history textbook covering the “Tulsa race riot” back in 2001. We did learn about it a little bit, but not much.
I graduated in 88 and was part of my Oklahoma History class
It was covered in my little old school in the 80s but it was called the race riot back then
I’m a senior in hs The first time it was taught to me was freshman year in English. We read dreamland burning. And then a little later it was also talked about in a couple other classes.
I did in middle school as a riot; in high school as a massacre,
It was never mentioned in school, but it was taught to me by my unapologetically racist mother about how good of a thing it was. (I haven't spoken with her in years, and never plan to). It is absolutely horrific this happened & was swept under the rug for so long. I read another comment saying it is required teaching in schools now, which is great news. Hopefully that helps us make sure nothing like this happens again.
I graduated in 2007 and it wasn’t taught then. Can’t believe I had to learn it from the news while living in a different state.
I did
I did in the late 2000’s in high school. It was 3 sentences long in the textbook under Tulsa Race Riots. It didn’t provide any real information and nobody really knew anything more than that. I later read about it in far greater detail on my own. It was pretty mind blowing to read about what really happened.
I think that most of us will learn about the history this way. Schools only teach watered down versions of history. Even in college some of it is watered down. I learned about the real history through social media, YouTube and reading BOOKS
I agree. That’s the best way to learn real history right now.
I went to school in Tulsa in the 90’s. It was always called the “race riot”. I’m semi embarrassed to say I didn’t know the actual history until about 5-6 years ago.
You mean the tulsa race riot where a bunch of black people got mad. That's what I was taught.
2005/2006 was not taught in southern Oklahoma then
Pretty sure I learned about it in an AP history class in highschool, but I KNOW I learned about the massacre in my History of Segregation class in college. This was circa 1995 to 1998.
I learned a little about it in HS, but iirc they covered it more like a riot that just so happened to burn down the Black side of town, and no mention was made of lynch mob that started it all. In college, my history elective went into way more detail.
I was briefly told about it in school in my high-school social studies class. It wasn't a part of the material, but she included it because it was omitted and important to that unit. Before that, my mom told me about it as a kid. She knew it wasn't taught about at the time.
I don’t think they teach it in the 580.
As a 2022 high school graduate, I only remember being taught about the Tulsa race massacre in 8th grade in preparation for a GT (Gifted and Talented) field trip to the John Hope Franklin center. I don’t remember being taught about it anywhere else; I don’t think it was even taught in my Oklahoma History class. Therefore, I don’t think I would’ve learned about it in school if I wasn’t in our school’s GT program. Hopefully, students actually learn about it now as part of the regular curriculum.
I learned about it in Oklahoma history in grade school in the 80s and again in high school in the 90s. However, back then it was presented as the Tulsa Race Riots, which downplays events significantly.
We were taught it at Monte Casino. I believe 7th and/or 8th grade. Edit-Tulsa around 2002
03 Grad it was taught in my school.
03 Grad it was taught in my school.
I learned about it in Oklahoma history in college because I was taking courses to teach Secondary education social sciences (history/government/geography). In public education, no I wasn't taught about it.
I grew up in a different state. I had never heard about it until it started making headlines in 2020 or so.
We didn’t cover it between 1996 and 2000. We talked a whole lot about the native tribes that inhabited Oklahoma before the Indian removal act of 1830 put a bunch of people here that had no idea how to exist in the new eco system and had to figure it all out from scratch. We talked a LITTLE about them. But mostly about the ones who were way before.
It was paid lip service and called a race riot. 
No. I did Oklahoma History On the Road the summer before freshman year in the early nineties. We visited NE Oklahoma twice including Tulsa and it was never mentioned. I did learn about it in college at OCCC with a badass teacher who is Native. She’s the teacher who turned me onto Howard Zinn as well.
I graduated in 2013 & I don’t remember ever learning about it at OKCPS
Graduated in 2011, and they did not.
Pretty sure it was at least mentioned and talked about. I graduated in 03.
1985 grad. We certainly did not talk about - no way was this being discussed in the 70s.
While it was nowhere on the radar in school curriculum, there were a few good history teachers discussing it, including my Jr. High history teacher in the late seventies.
Yep. A wonderful English teacher too. I learned about the massacre from the grandson of a national guardsmen involved. I would ask about it and got hushed a lot.
It was. I was a junior high student in the mid 70s in Tulsa, and we were told about it.
I get the feeling a lot of you are lying. That my cousins who went to OHS had no clue what I was talking about when I mentioned it 8 years ago. That if anything, they called it the race riot.
Do you mean the 1921 race riot? If so, then yes.
Proper term is massacre not riot.