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GREENWOOD, Tulsa.–More than three years after President Biden first vowed to repair Greenwood, attorneys for the two last known living survivors announced the Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a federal review into the Tulsa Race Massacre.
“I’m so excited to announce that this morning, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Kristen Clark announced that the United States Federal Government Department of Justice will open a review and evaluation of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre,” Justice for Greenwood civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said during a press conference Monday inside the Greenwood Cultural Center.
“We had President Biden right here in this building in 2021,” Solomon-Simmons said. “We also met with Vice President Kamala Harris, who’s now running for president, in DC. She said she stood with the survivors, and today, the Biden-Harris administration is standing with the survivors, and we’re thankful for that,”
Phoning in to the press conference, Congressman Al Green (D-TX) encouraged the investigation to proceed and thanked the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) for her years of support.
“Because we know that had this criminal act…been perpetrated on white Americans, the courts would have awarded the white victims compensatory as well as punitive, monetary justice. The Black victims deserve no less,” Congressman Green said.
“I’m honored to have sent a letter to the President and to the justice department asking for justice for the many victims of this massacre, and I’m grateful to those of you who have been in the fight, and I can only say to you, just stand your ground.”
Federal probe begins into Tulsa Race Massacre
For years, the Justice for Greenwood legal team has been calling for the first ever federal DOJ investigation into the city-sanctioned racial domestic terror attack, which resulted in white mobs killing upwards of 300 Black men, women and children from May 31 through June 1, 1921.
The Tulsa County District Court and the Oklahoma Supreme Court have denied 110-year-old Viola Ford Fletcher and 109-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle the opportunity for a trial, leading attorney Solomon-Simmons to reiterate calls for Biden to open an investigation.
“It only took 103 years. But this is a joyous occasion, a momentous day, an amazing opportunity for us to make sure that the what happened here in Tulsa is understood for what it was, the largest crime scene in the history of this country,” Solomon-Simmons said.
He said DOJ officials would be reviewing evidence and testimonies over the coming weeks, with the goal of releasing a report on Tulsa by the end of the year.
It’s the first step in a process under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act. Passed in 2008, the law gives the Dept. of Justice and the FBI the authority to jointly investigate unconstitutional crimes that took place before 1979.
“This tragedy has been ignored for far too long, and this long overdue action is a step towards acknowledging the immense suffering endured by survivors and their descendants,” Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, a descendant of massacre survivors, said at Monday’s press conference. “The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is our duty, as the living, to do so for them.”
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Community Responds to DOJ Probe into Tulsa Massacre
Chief Egunwale Amusan is a descendant, business owner and author. At Monday’s press conference he called out the city and state for its lack of accountability for the city-sanctioned attack that displaced over 10,000 Black residents of Greenwood, destroyed over 1,200 homes and over 200 businesses. To date, no one has ever been held criminally liable for the attack.
“They wanted us to die. They wanted us to suffer from historic amnesia. Most importantly, they wanted us to forget what Napoleon Bonaparte said when he said, ‘history is a set of lies that have been agreed upon’,” Chief Aumsan said.
“Those people who agreed upon the lies here in this city are about to meet their maker because we’re going to investigate, we’re going to sterilize the infection that this city is contaminated with,” he said.
State Senator-elect Regina Goodwin (D-Tulsa), a descendant of massacre survivors, acknowledged the significance of the federal probe.
“That the Department of Justice has decided to take this on and just look into it, it says that we are not forgotten. Our ancestors are not forgotten. The generations to come, they’re worth fighting for,” she said.
Tulsa Mayoral Candidate responds to DOJ probe
In a statement sent to the Black Wall St. Times, state Rep. and Tulsa Mayoral Candidate Monroe Nichols (D-Tulsa) responded to the announcement of the federal probe. He said he’s confident the city’s best days are ahead.
“As Tulsans and the nation have grown more aware of the horrors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, our community has been working to unify the city. In Tulsa, we no longer avoid the truth; we move toward progress,” Nichols said.
“As the U.S. Department of Justice reviews the events of 1921, I remain committed to bringing this community together and moving forward. I believe in Tulsa and know that we are defined, not by our past, but by who we are today and how we face our challenges. I love our community and am confident that our best days are still ahead.”
On the backs of giants
Paying respect to the now-passed survivors, historians, and attorneys who pioneered the fight for justice–like B.C. Franklin in 1921 and attorney Charles Ogletree in the early 2000s–attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons vowed that the community would never stop fighting.
“This report from the federal government will talk about what happened here in Tulsa and hopefully that will help us get closer to the justice and reparations that are still due,” Solomon-Simmons said.
Follow the Black Wall Street Times for updates on the DOJ probe into the Tulsa Race Massacre.
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