Oklahoma Court Denies 1921 Tulsa Massacre Survivors’ Reparations
TL/DR –
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma dismissed a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racist violence in US history. The lawsuit, filed by the last known survivors of the incident, claimed that local and state officials including the city of Tulsa and the Oklahoma National Guard, failed to protect the Black community from a white mob that attacked the Greenwood neighborhood. The court ruled that the long-standing issues resulting from the massacre were societal inequities that should be resolved by policymakers, not courts; however, attorneys for the survivors plan to appeal the decision and have called for the Justice Department to investigate the massacre under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act.
Dismissal of Tulsa Massacre Reparations Lawsuit by Oklahoma Supreme Court
The last known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre had their lawsuit dismissed by the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday, thus denying reparations for one of the US’s most significant incidents of racist violence.
The suit against the city of Tulsa and several local and state agencies was filed four years ago by Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher, and Hughes Van Ellis who passed away last year.
The lawsuit alleged that in 1921, officials from the city, county, and Oklahoma National Guard, amongst others, caused a “public nuisance” by failing to protect the Black community from a White mob targeting the prosperous Greenwood neighborhood, known as Black Wall Street.
Citing a two-year statute of limitations, Tulsa officials argued that the claims were outdated.
In upholding the initial ruling against the survivors, the state Supreme Court stated that claims related to the massacre do not align with the state’s “public nuisance” law. The court also suggested that resolving the impacts of the massacre is a task for policymakers, not the courts.
Nevertheless, attorneys for Fletcher and Randle plan to petition for reconsideration, arguing that the 1921 events clearly meet the public nuisance definition under Oklahoma law.
The attorneys added that they will request a Federal investigation into the massacre under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, stating “the court system is the very place where such harms are meant to be remedied.”
The massacre began on May 31, 1921, when a White mob descended on Greenwood, indiscriminately shooting Black individuals and burning over 1,200 homes and many Black-owned establishments. The destruction also included a Black hospital and numerous churches and schools.
The survivors’ lawsuit claimed that the city police department, county sheriff’s office, and the State National Guard participated in the massacre with the mob, and subsequently targeted Black community leaders and massacre victims for prosecution.
On June 1, 1921, martial law was declared, with Black survivors marched to “internment camps” throughout the city. No White person was ever charged in relation to the massacre.
In 2018, a renewed investigation into possible massacre mass graves led to the discovery of a mass grave in the city-owned Oaklawn Cemetery in 2020. Scientists continue to examine the remains to establish potential DNA links with any descendants.
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