How Greenwood, Tulsa’s ‘Black Wall Street’, Grew a Thriving Economy

Du Bois was an early champion of racial integration, but over time he became skeptical that white society would ever fully accept Black people. The eventual fate of Greenwood may have swayed his thinking. He began emphasizing group economics more and more, which put him out of step with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the organization he co-founded, and its ardent pursuit of desegregation. By the 1940s, Du Bois was advocating that Black communities create their own socialized health care system, communally owned banks and a consumer-focused economy in . . .