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In the 1900s, a predominantly black community

          in Greenwood, Oklahoma known as the Black Wall

          Street, created an economic system that grew to over

          600 businesses. The businesses included hospitals,

          libraries,     public      schools,      theatres,      hotels,

          restaurants,       printing       firms,       transportation

          companies,  bars,  night  clubs,  farmland,  funeral

          homes, churches, etc. How were they so successful?

          According to the book The Rise and Fall of Black

          Wall Street by Robin Walker, “White racism was a

          major impetus for the growth of the Black Business

          District. Blacks could work in the White areas as

          common  laborers,  domestics  and  in  the  service

          sector, but their money was not welcomed by the
          White businesses. So, they decided to create their


          own  opportunity  by  doing  business  amongst  their
          own community. They say one dollar circulated over


          36 to 100 times before it left the community. Their
          success caused the nation’s worst incidents of racial

          violence in 1921.” After studying the history of the

          Black Wall Street, I found out:






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