---
title: "Greenwood — AP African American Studies Definition"
description: "Greenwood was Tulsa's prosperous Black district, known as Black Wall Street, destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. Key to Topic 3.6 and white supremacist violence."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/greenwood"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 3"
---

# Greenwood — AP African American Studies Definition

## Definition

Greenwood was the affluent African American district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, nicknamed "Black Wall Street" for its thriving Black-owned businesses, which a white mob and city officials destroyed during the 1921 Tulsa race massacre (Topic 3.6, EK 3.6.A.3).

## What It Is

Greenwood was a neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma where African Americans built one of the wealthiest [Black communities](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/23-the-civil-war-and-black-communities/study-guide/izqwf48keJf083W0 "fv-autolink") in the country in the early twentieth century. It earned the nickname "Black Wall Street" because of its dense network of Black-owned banks, hotels, theaters, newspapers, and shops. In a Jim Crow America that locked Black people out of white businesses, Greenwood proved that Black communities could generate real wealth on their own terms.

That success made it a target. In 1921, a mob of white residents, with the help of city officials, attacked Greenwood in what the CED names the [Tulsa race massacre](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/tulsa-race-massacre "fv-autolink") (EK 3.6.A.3). The mob burned homes and businesses to the ground, killing residents and wiping out the wealth families had spent a generation building. For [AP African American Studies](/ap-african-american-studies "fv-autolink"), Greenwood is the clearest example of how white supremacist violence in this era was not random. It deliberately destroyed Black prosperity.

## Why It Matters

Greenwood sits in [Unit 3](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3 "fv-autolink") (The Practice of Freedom), [Topic 3.6](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/6-white-supremacist-violence-and-the-red-summer/study-guide/h7KVcNVSQEbcZE90 "fv-autolink"), White Supremacist Violence and the Red Summer. It directly supports learning objective 3.6.A, describing the causes of heightened racial violence in the early twentieth century, because the attack on Greenwood shows that Black economic success itself could provoke white supremacist violence (EK 3.6.A.3). It also connects to 3.6.B, since the destruction of communities like Greenwood pushed African Americans toward political activism, armed self-defense, and migration out of the South (EK 3.6.B.1 and 3.6.B.2). Greenwood is also where the course's economics thread gets concrete. When you talk about the racial wealth gap or intergenerational wealth, the 1921 destruction of Black Wall Street is the go-to evidence.

## Connections

### [Tulsa race massacre (Unit 3)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/tulsa-race-massacre)

Greenwood is the place; the Tulsa race massacre is the event that destroyed it. The CED treats them as a pair in EK 3.6.A.3, so on the exam you should be able to name Greenwood as the specific community the 1921 massacre wiped out.

### Red Summer of 1919 (Unit 3)

The 1921 attack on Greenwood came right after the Red Summer, when more than 30 urban race riots broke out in 1919. Greenwood fits the same pattern of [white supremacist](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/8-the-arts-music-and-the-politics-of-freedom/study-guide/waqzin2LZmqFfbJA "fv-autolink") mobs attacking Black communities, just two years later and aimed squarely at Black wealth.

### Ida B. Wells and published resistance (Unit 3)

EK 3.6.B.1 says African Americans resisted attacks through political activism, published accounts, and armed self-defense. Wells's anti-lynching journalism is the model for that response, and survivors and Black journalists documented Greenwood's destruction the same way.

### The Great Migration (Unit 3)

Violence like the destruction of Greenwood, combined with limited economic opportunity in the South, pushed African Americans to leave for northern and western cities (EK 3.6.B.2). Greenwood works as cause-and-effect evidence for why millions migrated.

## On the AP Exam

Multiple-choice questions on Greenwood tend to test three things. First, the basic ID, like what nickname Greenwood earned (Black Wall Street). Second, causation, asking which factor most directly made white residents target Greenwood, where the answer points to resentment of Black economic success. Third, pattern and effect questions, like what the destruction of Greenwood demonstrates about American race relations or how it affected intergenerational wealth transfer in Black families. No released FRQ has used "Greenwood" verbatim, but it is strong specific evidence for short-answer or essay prompts about the causes of early twentieth-century racial violence (LO 3.6.A) or how African Americans responded to it (LO 3.6.B). The move that earns points is connecting the place to the bigger claim, that white supremacist violence deliberately destroyed Black wealth and that destruction had effects lasting generations.

## Greenwood vs Tulsa race massacre

Greenwood is the community, the prosperous Black district in Tulsa nicknamed Black Wall Street. The Tulsa race massacre is the 1921 event in which a white mob and city officials destroyed it. If a question asks about the place or its economy, the answer is Greenwood. If it asks about the violence itself, the answer is the Tulsa race massacre. They almost always appear together, but you need both names to be precise.

## Key Takeaways

- Greenwood was the affluent Black district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, nicknamed "Black Wall Street" for its concentration of Black-owned businesses.
- In 1921, a mob of white residents and city officials destroyed Greenwood in the Tulsa race massacre (EK 3.6.A.3).
- Greenwood shows that white supremacist violence often targeted Black economic success, not just Black political activity.
- The destruction of Greenwood erased wealth that Black families would have passed down, which is why it appears in questions about intergenerational wealth and the racial wealth gap.
- Violence like the attack on Greenwood, plus limited economic opportunity in the South, helped spur the Great Migration (EK 3.6.B.2).
- African Americans responded to attacks like this through political activism, published accounts, and armed self-defense (EK 3.6.B.1).

## FAQs

### What is Greenwood in AP African American Studies?

Greenwood was the wealthy [African American](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/10-black-pride-identity-and-the-question-of-naming/study-guide/sCMCOOHW7DRtM6jH "fv-autolink") district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, known as "Black Wall Street." It appears in Topic 3.6 because a white mob and city officials destroyed it during the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.

### Why was Greenwood called Black Wall Street?

Because it held a dense concentration of successful [Black-owned businesses](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-owned-businesses "fv-autolink"), including banks, hotels, theaters, and newspapers, making it one of the most prosperous Black communities in the country before 1921.

### Is Greenwood the same thing as the Tulsa race massacre?

No. Greenwood is the neighborhood, and the Tulsa race massacre is the 1921 event that destroyed it. On the exam, name Greenwood as the community and the massacre as the act of white supremacist violence.

### Was Greenwood destroyed because of one incident, or was it part of a bigger pattern?

It was part of a bigger pattern. Between 1917 and 1921, white supremacists incited widespread racial violence, including more than 30 urban race riots in the Red Summer of 1919. The 1921 attack on Greenwood fits that wave, with the added motive of destroying Black wealth.

### Why does Greenwood matter for the racial wealth gap?

Greenwood's destruction wiped out homes, businesses, and savings that Black families would have passed to their children. Practice questions on this term often ask how the massacre disrupted intergenerational wealth transfer among African American families.

## Related Study Guides

- [3.6 White Supremacist Violence and the Red Summer](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/6-white-supremacist-violence-and-the-red-summer/study-guide/h7KVcNVSQEbcZE90)

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