African Americans in Oklahoma

African Americans in Oklahoma

Elderly African American Sharecroppers in 1914
Total population
289,961

African Americans in Oklahoma or Black Oklahomans are residents of the state of Oklahoma who are of African American ancestry. African Americans have a rich history in Oklahoma.^[1][2] An estimated 7.8% of Oklahomans are Black.^[3]

African-Americans first settled in Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears. While many of these people were enslaved Africans, around 500 chose to do so in order to escape slavery.^[4]

Racism against Blacks has been common throughout the state's history, manifesting itself in scenarios such as the Tulsa race massacre, which targeted members of Tulsa's affluent African-American Greenwood District.^[5]

History

Black slaves came with their Native American slave owners across the Trail of Tears to their new territorial home in Oklahoma.^[1]

All-black towns

Entirely black towns and neighborhoods were historically common in Oklahoma, and thirteen still exist.^[6][7] This is a list of all remaining African American towns in Oklahoma:

Black newspapers

A list of historically black-owned/edited newspapers, serving primarily black communities, established in Oklahoma.^[8]

Notable residents

• Green Currin, first African American to serve in the Oklahoma Territorial Legislature
• Lelia Foley, first Black female mayor in the United States
• A. C. Hamlin, first African American in the Oklahoman legislature
• Edward P. McCabe, politician

See also

• Choctaw freedmen
• List of African-American newspapers in Oklahoma
• Demographics of Oklahoma
• History of slavery in Oklahoma
• History of Oklahoma

References

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