Prologue: Like Judgement Day -- Beyond hatred's reach -- Lincoln's devotee -- Diamond Dick and the KKK -- The sheriff's promise -- Down the road to apocalypse -- Be ready at daybreak -- The attack on Greenwood -- A single ruthless organism -- The Negro Alamo -- Are you Dr. Jackson? -- Sick from what I see -- Assignment of a lifetime -- Scorched earth -- A Christmas carol -- What do you say now? -- The veil lifted.
Summary
In 1921, a white mob murdered hundreds of citizens and decimated the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With chilling details, humanity, and the narrative thrust of compelling fiction, The Burning recreates the town of Greenwood at the height of its prosperity, explores the currents of hatred, racism, and mistrust between its Black residents and neighboring Tulsa's white population, narrates events leading up to and including Greenwood's annihilation, and documents the subsequent silence that surrounded this great tragedy.