TULSA, OK – Survivors, descendants, and legal experts are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to elevate its current review of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre to a formal investigation. In a letter issued last week, attorneys for the survivors expressed grave concerns that the DOJ’s approach does not match the magnitude of an atrocity that is widely considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in U.S. history.
With the review slated to conclude by year’s end, advocates warn that time is running out to secure accountability, especially given the coming change in federal leadership; the President-Elect scrapped important civil rights probes into anti-Black discrimination during his previous administration and made recent comments on his intention to redirect the focus of the DOJ. The two last living massacre survivors, Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Ford Fletcher, both turned 110 this year, adding to the urgency.
“Black Tulsans have waited 103 years for their federal government to take action on the massacre that destroyed Black Wall Street. After the decades of advocacy, the mountains of evidence provided, and the nationwide interest in this case, a tepid conclusion from the DOJ would be a devastating blow to the survivors and to America’s faith in the justice system.”
— Damario Solomon-Simmons, National Civil Rights Attorney and Executive Director of Justice For Greenwood
A Body of Evidence Presented Since 2021
A white mob carried out the Tulsa Race Massacre against the prosperous Black Greenwood community, also known as Black Wall Street, on May 31, 1921 and into the next day. Hundreds of Black people were killed and thousands disappeared from history, over 36 square blocks of Black Wall Street were burned, and hundreds of millions of dollars in Black wealth were stolen. Afterward, the City of Tulsa, which had deputized participants in the white mob, conspired with Oklahoma leaders to cover up the crime.
Since August 2021, attorneys for the survivors have provided the DOJ with a substantial body of evidence, including:
- Historical documentation: Thousands of pages of documents that include the following.
- 3 separate sets of legal filings for lawsuits brought by Massacre Survivors against Massacre Perpetrators
- 201 separate sets of legal filings from 1921-1937 for lawsuits brought by Massacre Survivors against Massacre Perpetrators and insurance companies who denied them their claims.
- Around 80 survivor accounts including congressional testimony, books, poems, depositions, and oral histories
- 111 images from the Massacre and the aftermath
- 70 separate primary sources detailing the destruction of Greenwood and the systemic disenfranchisement of its Black residents. These include letters; newspaper, magazine, and journal articles; city planning docs, maps, city directories, census excerpts, Tulsa Chamber of Commerce meeting minutes, and reports.
- 15 separate sources pertaining to the role of the National Guard in the Massacre including testimony by National Guardsman who were there during and after the Massacre.
- 7 separate sources pertaining to the destruction of a U.S. Post Office Substation located in Deep Greenwood.
- Statements from survivors, descendants and leading experts: In May 2023, massacre survivors Hughes Vann Ellis (who died later that year at age 102) and his sister Viola Ford Fletcher (109) traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with DOJ attorneys and investigators. Also in October 2024, DOJ investigators met with the massacre survivor Lessie Bennignfield Randle (110) and several massacre descendants. They also met and interviewed experts, including the last living members of the state-appointed 2001 Tulsa Race Riot Commission. In its final report, the commission concluded that the City of Tulsa conspired to cover up the massacre. To date, the commission’s recommendation that the City pay reparations has been ignored.
Despite this extensive evidence, survivors are alarmed by the DOJ’s apparent unwillingness to use its full investigative authority. The letter outlines troubling signals, including the failure to use subpoena power to obtain critical documents, neglecting to transcribe or record witness interviews, and disregarding newly discovered mass graves, such as the desecrated remains of massacre victim C.L. Daniel.
Survivors Demand Action
“The Tulsa Race Massacre was the worst act of domestic terrorism ever perpetrated against American citizens,” said Solomon-Simmons. “Considering there are survivors still living, and considering institutions that participated in the massacre and cover-up are still around, I hope that the DOJ will heed the concerns coming from Tulsa and across Black America. I hope they will finally meet the moment. A federal investigation is critical to uncovering the full truth, ensuring accountability, and beginning to remedy the lasting harm.”
— Damario Solomon-Simmons, National Civil Rights Attorney and Executive Director
Read the full letter to the DOJ, below:
Support the 1921 survivors and descendants in their fight for justice and reparations—sign our letter urging the DOJ to fully investigate the massacre.