Listen to this article here
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

GREENWOOD Dist.– United States Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced legislation Thursday to designate Historic Greenwood District, home to the original Black Wall Street, as a national monument.

Members of the House of Representatives are expected to introduce a companion bill when Congress reconvenes in 2024, the Historic Greenwood/Black Wall Street Coalition announced in a press release.

“I commend the senators’ work to ensure that Black Wall Street gets its overdue recognition as a community that is integral to America’s unfinished story,” said Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, executive director of the Terence Crutcher Foundation and descendant of a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor.

The bipartisan push to protect and preserve the historic and cultural integrity of Historic Greenwood District comes after the death of Tulsa Race Massacre survivor “Uncle Red” Hughes Van Ellis on October 9. The World War II veteran was 102.

His sister, “mother” Viola Ford Fletcher and “mother” Lessie Benningfield Randle, both 109 years old, remain the two last known living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

black wall street national monument
Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre from left to right: Viola Ford Fletcher, 109, her little brother Hughes Van Ellis, 102, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, 108. (Photo credit : Justice for Greenwood)

“National Monument designation for Greenwood/Black Wall Street represents a Black
experience of creativity, entrepreneurship, tragedy, perseverance, triumph, and community,”said Reuben Gant, executive director of the John Hope Franklin Center.

While the coalition has worked for years to reach this point, the passing of Van Ellis in October added a sense of urgency.

Black Wall Street could become a National Monument

Beginning on May 31, 1921, a government sanctioned White mob, deputized by Tulsa police, launched a land and air domestic terror attack against Greenwood. The racist mob killed over 300 Black men, women and children, according to the Tulsa Historical Society.

The mob also destroyed 1,246 homes and over 200 businesses.

Members of the White mob. (Courtesy of Historic Greenwood District/ Black Wall Street coalition)

102 years later, Lankford and Booker are leading the effort to preserve the sacred land for future generations.

“The bill’s introduction in the Senate, and hopefully soon in the House, gets the nation closer to acknowledging the truth – that this is sacred ground, blood was shed here, and justice has continually been denied,” Dr. Crutcher said. “It is my hope that a national monument will inspire the country to rebuild a future Greenwood that is full of possibilities for generations to come.”

black wall street national monument
Women of Black Wall Street. Courtesy of Historic Greenwood District/ Black Wall Street coalition)

In addition to providing federal funds and preservation, the designation also represents a symbol of the resurgent spirit spreading in the community today. Following the massacre, Greenwood residents rebuilt Black Wall Street to its heydey in the ’40s.

black wall street national monument
Men of Black Wall Street. Courtesy of Historic Greenwood District/ Black Wall Street coalition)

Similarly, Black-owned businesses continue to start, grow, move and build in Tulsa today, reflecting a generational boom of entrepreneurship supported by community partners.

“As District 1 City Councilor, representing the area where Greenwood and Black Wall Street reside, I take immense pride in the significant step towards federal recognition for Historic Greenwood district by Senators Lankford and Booker, 102 years post the Tulsa Race Massacre,” said Vanessa Hall-Harper, Tulsa City Councilor.

“While this overdue acknowledgment is a positive stride for our nation, it doesn’t diminish the profound impact of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre,” she added. Instead, it crystallizes both the horrific moment in our history and the eras before and after.”

Related Stories

Seeking executive action from President Biden

In addition to seeking the national monument designation through legislation, the Historic Greenwood District/Black Wall Street coalition is also pushing President Biden to take executive action.

In 2021, President Biden became the first sitting president to publicly acknowledge the Massacre while visiting the Greenwood Cultural Center.

“Only with truth can come healing and justice and repair…but that isn’t enough,” Biden told the crowd.

The coalition is asking him to use his authority under the Antiquities Act as an alternative pathway to secure the designation.

Deon Osborne was born in Minneapolis, MN and raised in Lawton, OK before moving to Norman where he attended the University of Oklahoma. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Strategic Media and has...