The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced that it would review and evaluate the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, marking the federal government’s first inquiry into the destruction of Greenwood in 103 years.
U.S. Congressman Al Green (D-TX) lauded the Biden administration for the move, and added that further action in Congress could be on the table as well.
Following President Biden’s meeting with victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre in 2021, Congressman Green joined the growing number of people across the country, including the family of Emmett Till, in calling for an investigation into the 1921 tragedy. The call reflects growing concern that the two remaining survivors of the Massacre, 109-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle and 110-year-old Viola Fletcher, will not live to see justice.
The thriving African American community of Greenwood, popularly known as Black Wall Street, was criminally leveled by a white mob during the Massacre, and hundreds of Black people were murdered. The heinous attack resulted in nearly 40 square blocks being destroyed and thousands of Black American victims left homeless, penniless, and remediless.
“The Survivors experienced one of the most horrific acts of violence perpetrated against Black people in American history; yet, over a century later, they have received no compensation for the material and mental damages incurred or the opportunities they lost,” Rep. Green wrote in letters to President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland. “They, after more than a century, have not received the justice we pledge allegiance to.”
In July, the survivors issued a plea for help from the Biden administration following the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s dismissal of their historic lawsuit against the City of Tulsa for its role in the Massacre. In 103 years since the destruction of Black Wall Street, no court has held a trial addressing the Massacre, and no perpetrator has been held accountable for it. Had this criminal abomination been perpetrated on White Americans, the courts would have awarded the White victims compensatory as well as punitive monetary justice. The Black American victims should receive no less.
“Mr. President, I humbly request that you do whatever is in your power to ensure that the Survivors of the Massacre may receive justice,” Rep. Green continued. “The history of racist lynchings that occurred in America demands accountability. By investigating the brutalities of the Tulsa Race Massacre, we can continue to work toward repairing past harms and achieving a more just America for all.”
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