The Black Wall Street

Black Wall Street was the name given to the affluent black community of Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Jaynes, 2011). They generated a prosperous and self-sufficient business district amidst intense racism and segregation laws. Several upper class and middle class blacks lived and worked in the area with the town generating high black economic activity (Rogers, 2010). What began as a journey to Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa as servants, led the pioneering business owners to turn inward and produce their own society where most of the capital spent went back into the community.

Such a closed community had its own economy. Black customers bought from black store owners. Black patients went to black doctors and so forth. This was because of the hatred whites felt at the time regarding blacks. Regarding the first domain and applying that lens into Black Wall Street, Fundamental Economics has 13 key concepts. Two of which can be used for the way black people prospered in Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa.

The two concepts selected from the Fundamental Economics domain are money and incentives. Money fueled the incentive to build businesses in Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa. When black customers and patients needed a place to go shop or receive medical care, they had to go somewhere. Whites, thanks to racism and segregation, kept blacks separated from their communities and businesses. Thus, black business owners and doctors created their own supply that incentivized black customers and patients to spend their money in key areas.

The second domain, economic growth, also several key concepts. The two that best pertain to Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa and Black Wall Street are economic growth and GDP. Economic growth was evident in Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa thanks to the businesses booming from a loyal and consistent customer base. Because the black business owners supplied their customers with the items they needed, it was a closed and prosperous economy. All the money spent in that area was reinvested.

GDP refers to Gross Domestic Product and is a measure of citizens' well-being. Although this applies to the national population, it can be placed in a local population. The GDP of the people in Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa was high. Many of the people in the town were at least middle class, with a decent segment reaching upper class level. Doctors and business owners were well-off and lived comfortably amidst economic turmoil in other areas of Tulsa and in general, the United States.

The next domain to explore is microeconomics and the two key concepts compatible with the Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa example are entrepreneurs and consumers. Consumers are people that pay for a product or service (Henning, 2016). The thriving black had consumers with the means of which to pay for products and services. They paid business owners or entrepreneurs for anything ranging from food in grocery stores to a doctor's bill at a medical office.

Part of the reason for the racially motivated massacre was because of the economic prosperity of the area. Consumers had purchasing power that was not seen in areas adjacent. The same can be said of the profit experienced by the entrepreneurs. They gained loyal consumers that kept spending in their businesses.

While International Economics only has five key concepts, they can be applied to Black Wall Street. One such key concept is barriers to trade. Barriers to trade existed within the community because of racial segregation. As previously mentioned, blacks could not shop or live in the same area as whites thanks to Jim Crow Laws and a general racist sentiment felt in the government and in the American population. Therefore, the black consumers of the areas had to buy from black businesses to avoid dealing with problems arising from institutionalized racism and segregation.

Another key concept is economic development. Like economic growth, economic development shows the progress made by any group or population. The area that encompassed Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa was once a place with little in terms of businesses, schools, and established residences. However, after the black business owners and consumers built a self-sufficient, successful economy, the town experienced a growth in real estate development and consumerism. This is a positive sign of economic development.

The last domain is personal finance economics. The two key concepts that can be applied to Black Wall Street are saving and investing and human capital. Human capital involves expenditures on education, medical care, and training (Liberty Fund, 2010). The people of Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa opened schools and medical offices/hospitals during its economic boom. The black residents received excellent medical care from top black medical professionals like the murdered A.C. Jackson. He was widely regarded as one of the best surgeons of his time.

Savings and investment means in terms of economy, spending less than one has and the purchasing of durable goods (Rutherford, 2007). Residents saved money and then invested it in the area through real estate development. They managed to divert some of their funds to improving the area and producing worthwhile business ventures. This led to the economic growth of the area.

In conclusion, the mass murder of those in what was known as Black Wall Street is a horrific chapter in the United States. However, it is important to recognize the amazing ability of those residents to uplift themselves and become prosperous in an otherwise unstable economy. They are the shining example of the American Dream realized.

References

Henning, M. B. (2016). Innovations in Economic Education: Promising Practices for Teachers and Students, K-16. Routledge.

Jaynes, G. D. (2011). Encyclopedia of African-American society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Liberty Fund. (2010). The 51 Key Economics Concepts | Library of Economics and Liberty. Retrieved from http://www.econlib.org/library/Topics/HighSchool/KeyConcepts.html

Rogers, W. S. (2010). The African-American entrepreneur: Then and now. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Rutherford, D. (2007). Economics: The Key Concepts. Routledge.