In a significant move towards justice and accountability, the Justice Department announced a civil rights review into the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the darkest moments in U.S. history, where a white mob destroyed a prosperous Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This investigation marks the first federal probe into the massacre. While Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke noted there is likely no one alive who could be prosecuted, the inquiry under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act is a significant step toward acknowledgment. Clarke confirmed the agency will issue a public report by the end of the year, offering an official examination of the massacre’s impact on descendants of the survivors.
For many, the announcement brings a long-awaited acknowledgment of the crime. Damario Solomon-Simmons, the attorney for survivors, including 110-year-old Viola Fletcher and 109-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle, expressed his joy, calling it a “momentous day” for recognizing the true scale of the Greenwood District tragedy, often referred to as Black Wall Street.
“It only took 103 years, but this is a joyous occasion,” Solomon-Simmons said, standing alongside the descendants of massacre victims.
The massacre saw up to 300 Black residents killed, more than 1,200 homes, businesses, schools, and churches destroyed, and thousands forced into internment camps overseen by the National Guard. The attack targeted the flourishing Black community in Tulsa, with some of the mob being deputized by local authorities.
Earlier this year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit by the survivors, ruling their grievances didn’t fit within the state’s public nuisance law. The ruling dampened hopes for reparations, but advocates turned to the Justice Department for a federal investigation. However, the DOJ acknowledged in a report to Congress that cases prior to 1968 face significant legal barriers.
Since the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act was approved in 2008, the Justice Department has opened 137 cases involving 160 victims. While many cases remain difficult to prosecute, the Act has led to notable convictions, including those involved in the 1960s Ku Klux Klan murders and the 1963 Birmingham church bombing.
The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre review aims to bring a long-overdue spotlight to the tragedy, offering hope for greater recognition of the historical wrongs suffered by the Black community in Greenwood.
