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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 1921 living survivors and descendants testify before the U.S. Congress through the Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties to address the historical injustices of the Tulsa Race Massacre. These hearings serve as a platform for survivors and descendants to share their stories and advocate for meaningful actions, such as reparations and policy changes, to address the lasting effects of the massacre.
VIDEO: Continuing Injustice: The Centennial of the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre
Living Survivors and Descendants Testify
Tulsa Race Massacre
The Tulsa Race Massacre took place from May 31 to June 1, 1921, in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was a prosperous Black American community known as “Black Wall Street.” During the massacre, a white mob, with the support of law enforcement, attacked and destroyed the community, leaving hundreds of Black residents dead, thousands homeless, and numerous businesses in ruins. It was one of the deadliest racial violence incidents in American history.
Living Survivors and Descendants Remember
The Centennial marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, making it a particularly poignant moment for reflection and reckoning with the nation’s history of racial violence and discrimination.
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Living Survivors
The presence of living Tulsa Race Massacre survivors testifying is remarkable due to the scarcity of survivors over time. They speak of lasting trauma in Tulsa’s Black community and provide crucial historical testimony from their firsthand accounts.
Living Survivors’ Descendants
Descendants of massacre victims actively advocate for acknowledgment, reparations, and reconciliation. They carry their ancestors’ legacy and tirelessly seek justice for the 1921 atrocities, ensuring they’re not forgotten.
Continuing Injustice
The title, “Continuing Injustice,” highlights that the impact of the Tulsa Race Massacre still reverberates through generations. The living survivors and descendants are the evidence. Ongoing injustices in economic social disparities, trauma, and historical erasure require attention and redress.
It’s interesting that Mr. Jordan, MAGA member of Congress, went right to how exceptional America is today and supposedly the lowest African American unemployment numbers in history.(he an advocate of stopping unemployment benefits and a denier of COVID 19 being anything more than the sniffles). He offered the usual empty promises of more jobs and education but no mention of reparations. The assets of the most prosperous businesses in Greenwood were looted by the white mob. Safes were broken into and jewelry and gems and heirlooms were taken as well as large sums of money. Even furniture and artwork were expropriated. These assets were then used by the white looters families in Tulsa to improve their lot in life. But Mr. Jordan would have us believe this transfer of wealth never happened. It was long ago and no one alive today participated in that riot. How can we ask for funds today to make up for losses back then.
The wealth transferred to poor white families, who had no self-respect , but at least held tight to their their belief that black people were animals and could be killed and their possessions seized to be used by the more worthy white race. Yes, they spoke of our people in those terms in those days and many many still speak that way today. All the fortunes built in the South on 400 years of slave labor in cotton, textiles, farming, factories, trade and transport were accrued on the backs of our ancestors.Now they claim to be self-made men and women. Even after slavery their wealth was protected by law and fortunes allowed to accumulate as property and other opportunities for wealth were denied us through racist covenants, red lining and other discriminatory laws and “separate but equal’ excuses for education and services. Yet, Mr. Jordan sits sanctimonious in his perch decrying the fact that anything is owed for those centuries of labour clinging to his empty claim of “exceptionalism” of America . Yes exceptional for him and his family but not so much for those who built his fortune and privilege, in exchange for the whip and the noose., Thank you Jerry Nadler, and the other Congressional Democrats for having this hearing and letting the County know the real history of race relations and the transfer of wealth from the successful families of Greenwood.