The Supreme Court in Oklahoma recently ruled to dismiss the ongoing lawsuit filed by the survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Announced last week, the judges officially ruled in an 8-1 vote to uphold a previous decision made by a district court judge in Tulsa. According to their written statement, the court said that the law prevents them from “extending the scope of the public nuisance doctrine” and that it’s up to policyholders to address the inequities.
Filed in 2020, the lawsuit was initiated by a group of survivors and descendants against the city of Tulsa, listing seven defendants such as the Oklahoma National Guard and the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce. Per the plaintiffs, the Tulsa Race Massacre caused “a public nuisance” that continues to impact citizens and survivors.
With the lawsuit, the survivors and descendants sought out reparations for the officials’ lack of defending Black citizens who were impacted by the attack.
Today the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down the case of the Tulsa Race Massacre survivors who had filed for reparations. This is what one of the survivors told me just before they made this final appeal. pic.twitter.com/Zn1g9AEg6p
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) June 12, 2024
“The massacre was one of the most heinous acts of racial terrorism committed in the U.S. by those in power against Black people since enslavement,” said one of the lead attorneys involved in the case, Damario Solomon-Simmons, per the Washington Post. “White elected officials and business leaders not only failed to repair the injuries they caused, they engaged in conduct to deepen the injury and block repair.”
The Tulsa Race Massacre began after 19-year-old Dick Rowland was falsely accused of sexual assault by a 17-year-old white woman who attended the same elevator as him. A white mob descended upon Greenwood to murder him, but the citizens of the town gathered to protect the young man.
In retaliation, the mob grew more hostile and, throughout the course of two days from May 31 to June 1, over 35 square blocks of what was once considered the wealthiest Black community in the U.S. was burned down. Hundreds of residents were killed and approximately 10,000 were left homeless after the attack. The Oklahoma National Guard proceeded to declare martial law, giving 500 white men permission to “deal with the situation” as they wished.
Only two survivors, who were involved in the lawsuit, remain. Viola Fletcher, 110, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, were both children when the massacre happened.
Hughes Van Ellis, the third survivor involved in the case and the younger brother of Fletcher, passed away in 2023 at the age of 102. Throughout his life, Van Ellis spent decades looking for reparations for the Tulsa Race Massacre.
“We were shown that in the United States, not all men were equal under the law. We were shown that when Black voices called out for justice, no one cared,” said Van Ellis when he testified as part of the case in 2021 per NPR. “Please, do not let me leave this Earth without justice, like all the other massacre survivors.”
