On Friday, the Department of Justice (DoJ) released a report on the Tulsa Race Massacre after announcing an investigation last September.
The report comes after a June 1921 report by the Justice Department’s Bureau of Investigation, the predecessor to the FBI, claimed that black men were responsible for the massacre and that the perpetrators did not violate any federal laws. It was published over 100 years later.
However, Friday’s Justice Department report acknowledged that attacks on black residents by white citizens were “highly organized and systematic and went beyond simple mob violence.”
“The Tulsa Race Massacre stands out as a civil rights crime unique in its scale, brutality, racist hostility, and complete destruction of a thriving black community,” the Department of Justice said. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement. . “In 1921, white Tulsans murdered hundreds of Greenwood residents, torched their homes and churches, looted their belongings, and imprisoned the survivors in concentration camps.”
“To this day, the Department of Justice has not publicly spoken out about this racial massacre or publicly explained the horrific events that occurred in Tulsa. This report highlights one of the darkest episodes in our nation’s past. This report breaks that silence by rigorously investigating and fully explaining that this massacre was not the result of uncontrolled mob violence, but rather an organized attack on Greenwood. This indicates that it was the result of a military attack.
The 126-page report was conducted by a team of attorneys and investigators from the Emmett Till Cold Case Unit, Criminal Division, Civil Rights Division, and was conducted by a team of attorneys and investigators from the Emmett Till Cold Case Unit, Criminal Division, Civil Rights Division, who “talked to survivors and descendants of survivors and collected first-hand accounts of the massacre from individuals.” The ministry said the men, now deceased, studied primary sources, spoke with scholars on the genocide, and reviewed legal statements, books and academic papers related to the genocide.
Despite the report’s findings, Clark noted that “there are no living perpetrators for the Department of Justice to prosecute.” Last June, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in a lawsuit filed by Tulsa Race Massacre survivors Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher, asking the city of Tulsa to pay compensation to the survivors and their descendants. The lawsuit was dismissed. Randle and Fletcher, both 110 years old, were children at the time of the massacre.
“Invasion” of Greenwood
On May 31 and June 1, 1921, Tulsa’s whites besieged Greenwood, a community now remembered as Black Wall Street.
The Justice Department’s findings include that Tulsa police “acted on behalf of hundreds of white residents, many of whom were drinking and inciting (lynch) shortly before being awarded their badges,” including the massacre. acknowledged the role of Tulsa law enforcement in More than 500 people were deputed within 30 minutes, the report said.
The report includes references to Walter White, a black civil rights activist who could also pass as white. To be appointed to a special assignment, all you need to do is provide your name, age and address, he wrote. After his appointment, White reported, “I was told, ‘From now on, you can go out and shoot whatever you see, and the law will be on your side.'” The review includes multiple recognitions of the widespread role of law enforcement and city officials in encouraging white Tulsans to kill their black neighbors.
It also named several residents who incited the crowd or participated in the disturbance, saying the actions of white Tulsans were organized and premeditated. Organized by the Tulsa Police Department and local National Guard members, and assisted by white veterans of the American Legion, white Tulsa people “infiltrated” Greenwood, the report said. They “looted, burned, and destroyed 35 city blocks while Greenwood residents desperately tried to protect their homes.”
Tulsa police and the National Guard disarmed black residents and forced many into “makeshift camps under armed guard.” Additionally, the Justice Department concluded that there were “credible reports” that at least some law enforcement officers “participated in murder, arson, and looting.”
“When the fire consumed Greenwood, many black families fled for their lives, leaving their homes and valuables behind. White residents chased them throughout the city and beyond, killing men, women, children, and the elderly. They captured the sick and infirm and plundered the homes they left behind.The area was completely destroyed, leaving almost nothing for the survivors.
After the attack, victims of the massacre received no compensation for the loss of their homes or businesses, and there was no legal justice for those killed whose names appear in the report. Although the city promised to help rebuild Greenwood, the Department of Justice found that Tulsa’s government had actually “created obstacles to rebuilding the housing,” including refusing outside aid. In a land grab, Tulsa authorities went so far as to impose fire ordinances that required residents to leave the area.
The report does not seek prosecution, but rather is intended to officially document what happened. Mr. Clark will meet with residents of the Greenwood neighborhood, survivors and descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Tulsa civil rights community, and other stakeholders.
