This isn't the only race riot.
Tulsa, Oklahoma had one in 1921.
The Tulsa Race Riot - Tulsa Historical Society MuseumTulsa Historical Society Museum
It was just what was done back then. Most whites were very intolerant of blacks.
From the Commission Report linked to from your link...
From my Mem ories of early oral his to ries of blue suits and Klan sheets “I teach U.S. His tory and those de ci sions that brought us to the riot,” Sey mour Wil liams my high school his tory pro fes sor said to me 45 years ago. He and W.D. Wil liams (no re la tions) for many years tu tored me on their ex pe ri ence and prod ded oth ers of their gen er a tion to tell me the story. “The riot is n’t known much by young teach ers. Many were born af ter the riot and it was banned by book pub lish ers, as much as U.S. his tory about blacks and slav ery. I could teach a course on just what has been left out of his tory.” Why the si lence in our com mu nity? The old man then in tro duced this stu dent to his as sess ment. “Blacks lost ev ery thing. They were afraid it could hap pen again and there was no way to tell the story. The two Ne gro news pa pers were bombed. With the un kept prom ises, they were too busy just try ing to make it.” He added, There were a lot of big shot rednecks at that court house who ran the city and still do. Sinclair Oil Com pany owned one of the air planes used to drop fire bombs on peo ple and build ings.” Po lite white peo ple want to ex cuse what hap pen as be ing caused by trou ble-making blacks and white trash ruf fi ans. “Nope,” he said, not ing that blacks did not like to talk about the riot. “The kill ers were still run ning loose and they’re wear ing blue suits as well as Klan sheets.” Dur ing that time, whites seek ing op por tu nity could not cir cu late among the rich and pow er ful with out Klan cre den tials. “Hell, Rob ert Hud son, the law yer as signed to Rowland was a char ter mem ber of the Klan. In the af ter math of the riot, where could Ne groes find jus tice?” He fur ther noted, “Lot of peo ple were killed. Many, many Ne groes.” I only viv idly re mem ber the sto ries of Pro fes sor and Mr. W.D. The other 300 or more voices have blended in to one es say. Still I hold all their col lec tive an ger, fear, and hope.
Tulsa race riot - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
The riot occurred in the racially and politically tense atmosphere of post-
World War I northeastern Oklahoma. The territory, which was declared a state on November 16, 1907, had received many settlers from the South who had been slaveholders before the
American Civil War. In the early 20th century,
lynchings were common in Oklahoma, as part of a continuing effort by whites to assert and maintain
white supremacy. Between the declaration of statehood and the Tulsa race riot 13 years later, 31 persons were lynched in Oklahoma; 26 were black and nearly all were men and boys. During the twenty years following the riot, the number of lynchings statewide fell to two.
[5]
The newly created state legislature passed
racial segregation laws, commonly known as
Jim Crow laws, as one of its first orders of business. Its 1907 constitution and laws had voter registration rules that
disfranchised most blacks; this also barred them from serving on juries or in local office, a situation that lasted until the federal
Voting Rights Act of 1965, part of
civil rights legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. Major cities passed their own restrictions.
[2]
Politics of Oklahoma - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia
The state has a history of
Democratic dominance. Oklahoma came into being as a state at the height of the era of
Jim Crow Laws and had a large
Ku Klux Klan presence in the 1920s. Race politics gave way to Democratic political infighting over the New Deal in the 1930s and 1940s and the gradual growth of the
Oklahoma Republican Party's power. Today, Oklahoma's federal representation and statewide offices are all held by the
Republican Party, which also holds supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature.
Apparently, the Democrats were in charge.