The US Department of Justice has released a report on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, often referred to as the Black Wall Street Massacre, referring to one of the most horrific instances of racial violence in US history as a ‘coordinated, military-style attack’ that involved law enforcement’s support.
Kristen Clarke, the US assistant attorney general for civil rights, shared the findings of an investigation into a mob of 10,000 white people k*lling as many as 300 Black people and destroying properties along 35 city blocks on 31 May and 1 June in 1921 in the Greenwood neighbourhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma. While false allegations of a Black teenager assaulting a white woman in an elevator sparked the massacre, many have alternatively argued the prosperous Black community drew the envy of white neighbours in a society built on racial capitalism.
The US Justice Department said no one involved is alive.
The repercussions of this tragedy continue to resonate through generations. In June 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the last two known survivors, Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, and Viola Ford Fletcher, 110, who sought reparations.
No one has ever been held accountable or prosecuted for these heinous acts, and survivors from Greenwood have not received compensation for their immense losses.
Will there ever be justice for the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre?
Sources:
https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=TU013