George Hill had one mission as the trade deadline neared this season. Take the nearly two-hour drive to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to visit the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre before being dealt by the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Feb. 28, just weeks before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, Hill made the trip that he’ll never forget.
“I just kept telling myself I wasn’t going to leave Oklahoma City until I went to go visit the Black Wall Street,” Hill, 35, told The Undefeated. “And then as I get to Black Wall Street and seeing what is left of it really was mind-boggling to me.”
One hundred years ago, approximately 10,000 people lived in the booming Greenwood District also known as Black Wall Street. This affluent community spanned 35 square blocks and had successful Black doctors, lawyers, business people, churches, hospitals and more. For these Black people, many of whom were descendants of slaves, the area was viewed as a safe haven from the racism and violence of the Jim Crow South.
But on May 31, 1921, the community was changed forever when 19-year-old Dick Rowland was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old white woman in an elevator the day before. The Tulsa Tribune followed with a story that riled up a white mob who wanted to lynch Rowland. Black people responded by mobilizing at the courthouse to protect him. Killings and destruction ensued.
Over 24 hours, the white mob attacked and killed many of Greenwood District’s residents and destroyed and burned their homes, businesses, churches, schools and a hospital. Instead of helping the people in peril, the Oklahoma National Guard arrested hundreds of Black survivors. Airplanes dropped turpentine bombs on houses, according to witnesses. Other witness accounts estimated 300 Black people were killed, thousands were left homeless and Black bodies were dumped into the Arkansas River and into mass graves.
GEORGE HILL
“I was a little distraught when I first learned about it,” Hill said. “You hear about everything else that happened. The first thing you think about is, ‘Why don’t they tell us about this? Why isn’t this part of history when everything else is?’ And I don’t take away the history of 9/11 or anything like that, but this is one of the first major massacres in [American] history. And for it to not be anywhere in any history book is just a slap to the culture’s face, but also a slap to history.”
Hill was first educated about the Tulsa Race Riots by a mentor in his hometown of Indianapolis last year named Amp Harris. So when the Thunder acquired Hill in a three-team trade from the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 23, 2020, he realized he would be close enough to Tulsa to make a trip.
“I just wanted to go down there and learn a little bit more about it and figure it all out,” Hill said. “I never heard about it previously, and they don’t tell you about that in history books at my school.”
From the time Hill arrived in Oklahoma City, there was the expectation that he would be traded from the rebuilding franchise at some point. As the trade deadline approached, Hill made plans on an off day to drive down to Tulsa. Hill said he consulted with Ayana Lawson, Thunder senior director of community and lifestyle services, for guidance on his trip, and she helped find him a guide. Hill invited his Thunder teammates to join him, but none took him up on the offer.
