Although victims of the 1921 Black Wall Street massacre in Tulsa, Okla. have been honored and memorialized, no one has ever been held responsible for the carnage and destruction of property in the affluent Black community.
A probe by the Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed what many African-Americans knew about the 1921 Black Wall Street massacre in Tulsa, Okla.
The DOJ called the two-day barrage, which killed 300 African-Americans and destroyed countless businesses and homes, a “coordinated, military-style attack” conducted by a White mob of more than 10,000 people.
Sabrina Ghebremedhin and Ivan Pereira of ABC News reported, “The DOJ released a 126-page report Friday following a four-month investigation into the attacks, which took place between May 31 and June 1 in 1921. In addition to the murders and property destruction, victims’ money and personal property were stolen, and they were not provided any aid.
“The report concluded that the 1921 one-week investigation done by an agent of the Justice Department’s Bureau of Investigation, the precursor to the FBI, was unfounded as it did not include key details about the violence, the victims and the perpetrators and implied that Black men were responsible for the massacre.”
The Black Wall Street massacre occurred after a rumor spread that African-American teenager Dick Rowland, 19, had assaulted a 17-year-old White girl named Sarah Page in an elevator.
Giam Pierre of RegalMag.com wrote, “At the time, Rowland worked as a shoeshine boy at the Drexel Building, located at 319 S. Main Street in Tulsa and the young lady worked as an elevator operator.
“Police interviewed Page.
“However, she made no assault allegations against Rowland.
“Many believe that Page and Rowland already knew each other before the alleged event.
“Before the massacre, Black Wall Street represented the epitome of Black people pulling themselves up from their own bootstraps despite Jim Crow laws and the fact that many were only a few decades away from being enslaved.
“The Black area of Tulsa was known for having Black doctor’s offices, Black lawyers, Black barbershops, churches, mortuaries, post offices as well as their own airport.
“Many Black residents were more affluent than many of their White counterparts, despite the racism and discrimination that they faced daily.
“However, in a matter of days, homes and businesses were destroyed.
“Furthermore, many lives were lost.
“Estimates put the death toll at 300 people.
“However, at the time reports said that only 39 people lost their lives during the massacre.
“Additionally, thousands of Black residents were assaulted, “arrested and left homeless.”
The new report said, “Contrary to the agent’s 1921 report, the situation did not ‘spontaneously’ grow out of control. Rather, what had initially been sporadic and opportunistic violence became systematic, yielding a much more devastating result, due to coordinated efforts among White residents and law enforcement entities. Moreover, although the 1921 report asserts that the massacre (then called a riot) was not the result of ‘racial feeling,’ perpetrators of the massacre overtly expressed and acted upon racial bias.”
The DOJ conducted interviews with survivors and their descendants, studied firsthand accounts of the massacre by survivors who are now deceased, spoke with history scholars, read primary source material, studied legal paperwork and read books about the Black Wall Street massacre to come up with the findings in the probe.
ABC News reported, “After a local newspaper sensationalized the story, a mob of White Tulsans gathered outside the courthouse, demanding a lynching, according to the report.
“When a local sheriff called a group of Black World War I veterans to come to the courthouse to prevent the lynching, the White mob grew, and a shot rang out, the investigation found.
“The Tulsa police exacerbated the conflict by deputizing hundreds of White residents; many of whom were ‘advocating for a lynching and had been drinking,’ the report said.”
The report discovered, “Law enforcement officers helped organize these special deputies—as well as other White Tulsans—into martial forces that ravaged Greenwood. Over the next several hours, they looted, burned, and destroyed 35 city blocks while Greenwood’s residents tried desperately to defend their homes.”
Despite the DOJ probe, the survivors still have not gotten reparations for the loss of their relatives’ property and businesses.
In June 2024, a judge dismissed a public nuisance lawsuit brought by two survivors of the Black Wall Street massacre.
The survivors were very young infants when the Black Wall Street Massacre occurred.
At the time of the court case dismissal, Viola Fletcher was 110-years-old, and Lessie Benningfield Randle was 109-years-old.
Josh Dulaney of The Oklahoman reported, “Because the massacre was originally deemed a riot, the Oklahoma Supreme Court immunized insurance companies from liability in 1926, meaning none of the Black home or business owners could make claims for property loss.
“The commission recommended reparations, but a federal lawsuit filed in 2003 was dismissed less than a year later because the statute of limitations had expired.
“In their public nuisance claim, the survivors alleged that because of the massacre, they continued to face racially disparate treatment and city-created barriers to basic human needs such as jobs, financial security, education, housing and justice.”
Pierre of RegalMag.com wrote, “Unfortunately, no one has ever been held responsible for the Black Wall Street massacre.
“Regardless, Black generational wealth and upward mobility were completely lost because of the racial massacre.
“Although many Black residents from that area had reached upper middle class and upper-class status, their wealth was completely wiped away because of the loss of their property and businesses.
“As a result of those losses, the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of property and business owners lost out on generational wealth, which would have been given to them upon the passing of their ancestors.
“The lack of wealth between the Black and White communities is one of the reasons for much of the racism in America.
“Racism comes from a position of power and power is often obtained because of wealth.
“Despite becoming a tourist attraction in recent years, Black Wall Street and the surrounding area have not returned to their former glory even though over one century has passed since the deadly melee.”
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