Last known survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre challenge Oklahoma high court ruling

OKLAHOMA CITY — Lawyers for the last two survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday to reconsider the ruling. case they fired last month and called on the Biden administration to help the two women seek justice.

Viola Fletcher, 110, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, are the last known survivors of one of the worst acts of violence against black people in US history. About 300 black people were killed; more than 1,200 homes, businesses, schools and churches were destroyed; and thousands were forced into internment camps overseen by the National Guard when a white mob, including some deputized by authorities, looted and burned the Greenwood district, also known as Black Wall Street.

In a petition for rehearing, the women asked the court to reconsider its 8-1 vote that upheld a district court judge in Tulsa last year to close the case.

“Oklahoma and the United States of America have failed its black citizens,” the two women said in a statement read by McKenzie Haynes, a member of their legal team. “With our own eyes, and etched deep into our memories, we saw white Americans destroy, kill and loot.”

“And despite these obvious crimes against humanity, no charges were issued, most insurance claims went unpaid or were paid for just pennies on the dollar, and black Tulsans were forced to leave their homes and live in fear. ”

Lawyer Damario Solomon Simmons also called on the US Department of Justice to open an investigation into the massacre under the Emmett even Unsolved Crimes against Civil Rights Act of 2007, which allows the reopening of cold cases of violent crimes against black people committed before 1970. A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment.

The lawsuit was an attempt under Oklahoma public nuisance law to force the city of Tulsa and others to make restitution for the destruction. The lawyers also argued that Tulsa appropriated the historic reputation of Black Wall Street “for its own financial and reputational benefit.” They argue that any money the city receives from promoting Greenwood or Black Wall Street, including proceeds from the Greenwood Rising History Center, should be put into a compensation fund for the victims and their descendants.