Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors Condemn Reparations Rejection, Urge Biden to Act | Tulsa Race Massacre

Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, a survivor of the Tulsa race massacre, made her first public appearance since the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed her landmark lawsuit last month. Randle, along with fellow survivor Viola Fletcher, 110, had sought redress for survivors and descendants of the 1921 massacre, in which about 300 black Tulsa residents were killed, thousands were displaced and Greenwood, the affluent neighborhood once known as “Black Wall Street,” was decimated by a wave of racist violence.

A ruling in favor of Randle and Fletcher would have been the first decision to address the long-term harm the massacre has done to Tulsa’s black community. But the court said that while the plaintiffs’ grievances were legitimate, the lawsuit fell outside the scope of the state’s public nuisance law.

Randle and Fletcher’s statement, read on their behalf by an attorney, reads: “We are deeply saddened that we will not live to see the State of Oklahoma or the United States of America honestly heal and repair the harms caused by one of the darkest days in American history. At 109 and 110 years old, we are elderly and we know we are living on borrowed time… Oklahoma and the United States of America have failed our Black citizens. This failure is profound, systemic and tainted by empty words and clever platitudes.”

The statement describes how the two survivors witnessed the atrocities of the massacre, including white pilots flying over the neighborhood and dropping dynamite on the streets, an act considered one of the first aerial bombings of an American city.

No one was prosecuted for these crimes, the city of Tulsa never paid reparations to the victims or repaired the damage caused by the massacre, and insurance payments were either unpaid or insignificant. The surviving blacks of Tulsa fled or remained in Oklahoma and lived in fear.

Several speakers at the press conference cited Joe Biden’s 2021 meeting, when he met with Randle, Fletcher, Fletcher’s younger brother, Hughes Van Ellis, who died last year at age 102, and other descendants.

“He sat down with my clients. He promised them that he would make sure they got justice,” said Damario Solomon-Simmons, the lead attorney for the Tulsa survivors. “Then he went into the next room and gave a powerful speech telling the nation that he stood with the survivors and descendants of the Tulsa race massacre. But now that the courts have failed us, now that Congress has failed us, we call on President Biden to keep his promise to these survivors, to this community, and to Black people across this country.”

Survivors have been calling on the president and the Justice Department to investigate the Tulsa race massacre. With the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s decision, those calls have been amplified. In the meantime, survivors’ attorneys have filed a motion for a rehearing. During the press conference, they highlighted inconsistencies and alleged problems with the Supreme Court’s decision.

“This is the American reality, no matter how much politicians seek to implement policies that hide our history, this is our collective truth,” Randle’s statement read. “It seems the only justice allowed for Black Americans is words of sympathy and supposed promises that white Americans, our government and our justice system will do better. But the lip service continues and tangible justice is denied.”

The survivors vowed to “continue to shine a light on the darkest days in American history,” while reiterating their call for the Justice Department to investigate Tulsa. The complaint included the survivors’ complaint about the city’s unjust enrichment: There are many Black Wall Street tours and other cultural events that seek to expose tourists to the Tulsa race massacre, but do nothing to benefit survivors.

Tiffany Crutcher, whose great-grandmother survived the massacre, also spoke, citing Biden’s speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of the massacre.

“Some injustices are so heinous, so horrible, so egregious that they cannot be buried, no matter how hard people try,” Crutcher said, quoting Biden’s words.

“I agree 100 percent with President Biden,” she continued. “We must confront this situation and respect our survivors, their descendants, and this community by demanding that the Department of Justice immediately investigate what happened here on this sacred ground over 100 years ago. This community is watching, this nation is watching, history is watching, and the survivors depicted on these walls are crying out for peace, and this administration has the power to help them rest in peace.”