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Tom Hanks Calls for Schools to Teach Kids About the Tulsa Massacre and Stop ‘Whitewashing’ History

Hanks described himself as a student of history who was nonetheless shocked to learn about the white mob that killed hundreds of Black people in Oklahoma in 1921.

Tom Hanks thinks more Americans need to read up on the Tulsa massacre of 1921 and schools need to stop “whitewashing” curriculums. In a powerful New York Times essay titled “You Should Learn the Truth About the Tulsa Race Massacre,” Hanks described himself as a student of history who was nonetheless shocked to learn about the white mob that killed hundreds of Black people in 1921 in the prosperous neighborhood of Greenwood, then known as “Black Wall Street.” Hanks writes, “History was mostly written by white people about white people like me, while the history of Black people—including the horrors of Tulsa—was too often left out… I knew about the attack on Fort Sumter, Custer’s last stand and Pearl Harbor but did not know of the Tulsa massacre until last year… How different would perspectives be had we all been taught about Tulsa in 1921, even as early as the fifth grade? Today, I find the omission tragic, an opportunity missed, a teachable moment squandered.” President Joe Biden visited Tulsa earlier this week to commemorate the massacre.