The families of the last living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre met with federal detectives from the Department of Justice’s Cold Case Unit the week of Oct. 14, seeking justice and accountability. The meeting marks the first-ever federal review of the massacre that destroyed the Black community of Greenwood, also known as “Black Wall Street.”
Viola Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle, both over 100 years old, are the last known living survivors of the massacre. While they could not attend the meeting, their attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons, along with their family members, urged the DOJ to pursue a full investigation.
“Everyone wants actual accountability for the massacre,” Solomon-Simmons said. “They want those who perpetrated this harm that started in 1921 and continues to today, to be held accountable.”
The DOJ launched the review under the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which allows the reopening of civil rights cases before 1979. The attack began after a Black teenager, Dick Rowland, was falsely accused of assaulting a white woman, leading to two days of destruction and death as a white mob burned and looted the prosperous Black neighborhood.
The Tulsa Race Massacre is alleged to have been heavily suppressed in American history education, with many citing first learning about it just recently in an episode of HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ series.
In a joint statement read by Solomon-Simmons, the survivors’ families emphasized that secrets about the massacre remain hidden in unshared documents and records. They expressed hope that the DOJ’s review will reveal the full extent of the massacre and the plot to destroy Greenwood.
“This community will never stop fighting for reparations,” Solomon-Simmons said, echoing the families’ demands for restitution.
