More than 100 years after a white mob devastated the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the first-ever federal investigation into the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the Associated Press (AP)reports.
Known as “Black Wall Street,” Greenwood was home to a prosperous Black community before it was violently attacked. Thirty five city blocks of Black-owned businesses, churches, hospitals and homes were bombed, burned and destroyed. It’s estimated that up to 300 people were killed. Thousands were left homeless and generations of wealth destroyed in one of the worst instances of racial violence in U.S. history.
“We acknowledge descendants of the survivors, and the victims continue to bear the trauma of this act of racial terrorism,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke said during her remarks according the AP.
The DOJ’s move follows the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s June decision to dismiss a reparations case filed by massacre survivors without taking it to trial. The federal review will be conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Cold Case Unit, under the authority of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.
This comes after a heartfelt plea in July from survivors Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, and Viola Ford Fletcher, 110. They called on the Biden administration to invoke the 2007 Act, which allows cold cases involving violent crimes against Black people committed before 1970 to be reopened.
Damario Solomon-Simmons, the lead attorney for the Tulsa Race Massacre survivors, celebrated the DOJ’s decision during a press conference on Monday.
“It is about time,” said Solomon-Simmons, flanked by descendants of massacre survivors. “It only took 103 years, but this is a joyous occasion, a momentous day, an amazing opportunity for us to make sure that what happened here in Tulsa is understood for what it was — the largest crime scene in the history of this country.”
He credited the decision to persistent efforts, including multiple meetings with the DOJ, both in Washington, D.C., and virtually, and the ongoing dedication of the community.
“This community would never stop fighting for reparations. This community would never forget what happened to our people, just for being Black, just for being successful,” he said. “So we are excited today. This has been a difficult journey—lots of obstacles, odds, and opposition—but today we have a victory.”
Tiffany Crutcher, founder of the Terence Crutcher Foundation and a descendant of a massacre survivor, echoed the sentiment, emphasizing how long the tragedy had been overlooked. “Today, my family and community are deeply grateful that the U.S. Department of Justice is finally preparing to review the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. This tragedy has been ignored for far too long,” Crutcher said at the press conference according to ABC News.
The DOJ plans to issue a public report detailing its findings by the end of the year.
