Tom Hanks wrote a column for the New York Times arguing why we should tackle America’s violent racist past

Actor Tom Hanks is urging people to revisit America's racist past and learn about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

In a New York Times column published on Friday, Hanks reflected on American history curriculums in schools, and the lack of education around the Tulsa Race Massacre in which a white mob burned down the Black neighborhood of Greenwood, which at the time was known as "Black Wall Street."

"Many students like me were told that the lynching of Black Americans was tragic but not that these public murders were commonplace and often lauded by local papers and law enforcement," he wrote. "Should our schools now teach the truth about Tulsa? Yes, and they should also stop the battle to whitewash curriculums to avoid discomfort for students."