Greenwood was a prosperous Black neighborhood often called Black Wall Street. The violence began after a young Black man, Dick Rowland, was arrested on an accusation of assaulting a white woman in an elevator. When armed Black residents went to the courthouse to prevent a lynching, white mobs, some deputized by local officials, invaded Greenwood. They looted and burned homes and businesses, and planes flew overhead during the attack.
No one was ever convicted. Insurance companies denied claims, and the city tried to use a new fire ordinance to block rebuilding. A 2001 Oklahoma state commission recommended reparations, which the state did not pay. In June 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit by the last two known survivors.
In January 2025, the US Department of Justice released its first review of the massacre. It described a coordinated, military-style attack and found no legal path to prosecution. Since 2020, the city has searched for mass graves in Oaklawn Cemetery.