TULSA, Okla. — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to open a review into the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
This is a major breakthrough in a more than 100-year fight.
“This has been a difficult journey. A lot of obstacles, a lot of odds, a lot of opposition, but today we have victory,” said Damario Solomon-Simmons, the attorney for the last two survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Solomon-Simmons and his team gathered Monday afternoon at the Greenwood Cultural Center to share the news on the survivors’ lawsuit against the City of Tulsa, which was dismissed earlier this year by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
“This tragedy has been ignored for far too long and this long overdue action is a step towards acknowledging the immense suffering endured by survivors and their descendants,” said Tiffany Crutcher, descendent of a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor. “The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is our duty as the living to do so for them.”
FOX23 spoke with descendants who said this is a big step in the right direction.
Many descendants, like State Representative Regina Goodwin, were there to hear the big news.
“This is an ongoing battle. It is a fight that is worth having,” said Rep. Goodwin, “When it’s all said and done, the truth is always going to be known, we know what the truth is. We always say you have to have truth tellers, and you have truth listeners, and the Department of Justice has decided to take this on and look into it. It says we are not forgotten, our ancestors are not forgotten and the generations to come, they’re worth fighting for.”
“The descendants of those who suffered over 100 years ago are standing here today,” said Chief Egunwale Amusan, a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor descendant. “They wanted us to die. They wanted us to suffer from historic amnesia.”
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division’s Cold Case Unit plans to release a detailed report on the massacre as a part of the Emmett Till Cold Case Act.
Solomon-Simmons shared what both survivors and descendants want to see come from this review.
“One of the main things that we wanted to have happened is number 1 that no one would ever talk about the Tulsa Race Massacre and not discuss where is the justice and reparations for those people. Number 2 is that we wanted the federal government to recognize this formally as the largest crime scene in the history of the United States,” said Solomon-Simmons. “If you can’t recognize what happened to Mother Fletcher and Mother Randall as children, then no one is safe in America.”
Attorney Solomon-Simmons said he’s scheduled to meet with the DOJ in about a week to get the ball moving and they are committed to having their report completed by the end of the year.
Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum shared the following statement regarding the announcement:
“I want to thank the Department of Justice for acknowledging our work to date, and for their willingness to assist in this important work,” Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said. “When we started this investigation nearly six years ago, we brought in archaeology, anthropology and forensic experts to help bring some form of justice and healing to the victims and families of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. We have made great strides in our investigation and recently announced eight profiles of interest, including the first positive identification of a Tulsa Race Massacre victim buried in an unmarked grave, C.L. Daniel. We appreciate the DOJ’s commitment of its substantial resources to help in this investigation, including our community engagement work through the Emmett Till Cold Case Grant that we secured, and look forward to our continued partnership.”
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