‘I am seeking justice’: Tulsa massacre survivor, 107, testifies to US Congress

[Moonglow]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

They held the survivors for weeks in what today would be called a con-centration camp.

Tents.

You yearn for the day you could have your life ripped apart and left to live in a tent. I suppose according to you folks she was lucky to get a tent.

 

[theHawk]

while robbing and burning more than 1,200 businesses, homes and churches

Sounds like a BLM gathering. Only it was “white lives matter” back then.

Social justice can go both ways. If you don’t like it, why push it today?

 

[bodecea]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

They held the survivors for weeks in what today would be called a con-centration camp.

Tents.

Fenced in and guarded.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

No it's not. A lot of stuff is still suppressed.

Sounds like justice to me.

Mindset of those who committed the massacre.

They were right.

 

[bodecea]

while robbing and burning more than 1,200 businesses, homes and churches

Sounds like a BLM gathering. Only it was “white lives matter” back then.

Social justice can go both ways. If you don’t like it, why push it today?

fascinating. Another trump fluffer trying to minimize the massacre.

 

[bodecea]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

No it's not. A lot of stuff is still suppressed.

Sounds like justice to me.

Mindset of those who committed the massacre.

They were right.

^ This is today's GOP/Right, folks.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

while robbing and burning more than 1,200 businesses, homes and churches

Sounds like a BLM gathering. Only it was “white lives matter” back then.

Social justice can go both ways. If you don’t like it, why push it today?

Because they don't give a rat fuck about anything but get whitey. So, fuck them.

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

while robbing and burning more than 1,200 businesses, homes and churches

Sounds like a BLM gathering. Only it was “white lives matter” back then.

Social justice can go both ways. If you don’t like it, why push it today?

fascinating. Another trump fluffer trying to minimize the massacre.

It was only black people. I would shed more tears for rats.

 

[TheGreenHornet]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

There is a reason for the statute of limitations....as in if we start going back in time to try and correct or make up past wrongs.....the list would be never ending and it would be totally self destructive of America or any nation that attempts something so foolish.

The liberals however are now engaged in such an effort....as they want to continue to divide America.....for political purposes.

 

[MisterBeale]

For nearly a century she was denied a voice by a culture of silence. Finally, at the age of 107, Viola Fletcher got a national stage on Wednesday to bear witness to America’s deep history of racial violence.

Fletcher is the oldest living survivor of a massacre that took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 31 May and 1 June 1921 when a white mob attacked the city’s “Black Wall Street”, killing an estimated 300 African Americans while robbing and burning more than 1,200 businesses, homes and churches
She was just seven years old at the time.

For decades the atrocity was actively covered up and wished away. But Fletcher and her 100-year-old brother are seeking reparations and, ahead of the massacre’s centenary, appeared before a House of Representatives judiciary subcommittee considering legal remedies.

....A third survivor, Lessie Evelyn Benningfield Randle, 106, also testified virtually. She said: “It means a lot to me to finally be able to look at you all in the eye and ask you to do the right thing. I have waited so long for justice.”

âI am seeking justiceâ: Tulsa massacre survivor, 107, testifies to US Congress

Viola Fletcher is the oldest survivor of the racist attack on the city’s ‘Black Wall Street’ in 1921 that left up to 300 African Americans dead

www.theguardian.com

Just the fact that there are three survivors still living is mind blowing.

I think they should receive compensation of some kind, but being old they are not going to have much time to reap much of the benefit. If there are reparations I believe they should come from the state of Oklahoma as well as the fed.
I think if a survivor of something like this is able to step forward, it should count for something. They should be given enough to pass on to their kids and grandkids. Im sort of scratching my head wondering why they didnt come forward earlier though, even when Obama was president for 8 years. I cant imagine his administration not giving these people a chance to talk.

Really?

You can't understand why?

. . . let me tell you. Nothing in politics or the national culture happens by accident. The narratives they feed us, and how things unfold are mostly planned.

The FBI is responsible for the deaths of MLK and Malcom X, and now the intel agencies are fully behind stirring up the internecine chaos.

The Deep State doesn't give a shit about equal rights or equity, anymore than it cares about America, it is there for the global corporations and the interests of the ruling class.



If the Guardian is running a piece on it NOW, their agenda is not justice for the plebes, it is to further the march toward more control by the establishment.

 

[ClaireH]

I hope congress acts quickly on this due to the ages of the living victims...every day matters...hey, that should be a political slogan: Every Day Matters..that doesn't leave anyone out.

It leaves out the white victims of black crime which are far greater in numbers than black victims which the majority of were long ago....what we should be concerned about is what is happening today.....

Blacks always want to play the victim....when others in truth have suffered way more than they have.

No race on earth has been given more than the blacks have....and yet like a bunch of hogs they run back to the trough screaming more,more....no matter how much has been given to them and is being given to these feral savages.....they are never satisfied.

They constantly whine about how bad they got it here in America.....ever see any of them go back to da muddland?

Other than on vacation? What a bunch of hypocrites."

GH: "It leaves out the white victims of black crime". My political slogan, Every Day Matters? No, it doesn't.
GH: "Blacks always want to play the victim:" No, they don't. Blanket generalizations are never right when it comes to people.
GH: "No race on earth has been given more than the blacks have." Requires a valid source, but for now I am going with either wrong or way off...a toss up.

I know your position which is clearly set in granite. When a poster repeats the same viewpoint over and over on a message board, without any sign of reflection or flexibility, it's not worth it trying to break through. I used to engage with political chatters who spewed venom on occasion, and am thankful for a message board that gives us a better platform for selecting our battles.

 

[TheGreenHornet]

while robbing and burning more than 1,200 businesses, homes and churches

Sounds like a BLM gathering. Only it was “white lives matter” back then.

Social justice can go both ways. If you don’t like it, why push it today?

 

[Yarddog]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

There is a reason for the statute of limitations....as in if we start going back in time to try and correct or make up past wrongs.....the list would be never ending and it would be totally self destructive of America or any nation that attempts something so foolish.

The liberals however are now engaged in such an effort....as they want to continue to divide America.....for political purposes.

I kind of agree with that in general, but in this case there are actual survivors of something.And I think possibly they can be recognized without the division. You are right though in that if every country continuously went backwards to fix everything, it might do more damage than the help that was intended. Any acts of reparations needs to be done with a certain amount of wisdom to avoid all that.

 

[TheGreenHornet]

I hope congress acts quickly on this due to the ages of the living victims...every day matters...hey, that should be a political slogan: Every Day Matters..that doesn't leave anyone out.

It leaves out the white victims of black crime which are far greater in numbers than black victims which the majority of were long ago....what we should be concerned about is what is happening today.....

Blacks always want to play the victim....when others in truth have suffered way more than they have.

No race on earth has been given more than the blacks have....and yet like a bunch of hogs they run back to the trough screaming more,more....no matter how much has been given to them and is being given to these feral savages.....they are never satisfied.

They constantly whine about how bad they got it here in America.....ever see any of them go back to da muddland?

Other than on vacation? What a bunch of hypocrites."

GH: "It leaves out the white victims of black crime". My political slogan, Every Day Matters? No, it doesn't.
GH: "Blacks always want to play the victim:" No, they don't. Blanket generalizations are never right when it comes to people.
GH: "No race on earth has been given more than the blacks have." Requires a valid source, but for now I am going with either wrong or way off...a toss up.

I know your position which is clearly set in granite. When a poster repeats the same viewpoint over and over on a message board, without any sign of reflection or flexibility, it's not worth it trying to break through. I used to engage with political chatters who spewed venom on occasion, and am thankful for a message board that gives us a better platform for selecting our battles.

Should Black People Pay White People Reparations For The Trillions Of Dollars White Taxpayers Paid Them?​

Since President Johnson's "War on poverty" started over 50 years ago government has come up with an endless procession of programs that were supposed to lift black people out of poverty and promote their success.

But now, after over $25 trillion in taxes paid overwhelmingly by white people, more than the inflation adjusted cost of every war the United States has ever been in since the Revolutionary War, and hundreds of failed welfare programs which politicians created to help black people, they aren't one bit better off than they were 50 years ago. The taxpayers were soaked and got absolutely NOTHING for their money. Yet, the money is still being poured into black communities like a tidal wave to this day with no end in sight.

At some point aren't black people ever going to take responsibility for their own destiny?

Black people have more opportunity in America than white people. All over the country there are colleges drooling over the chance to admit black students, human resource departments dreaming about a qualified black person walking into their office so they can hire them, governments searching far and wide to find black people to hire on the taxpayers' payroll. Never in the history of the world have black people (or any people for that matter) had more opportunity to prosper than in the United States of America today. They have more opportunity than I do. So what is the problem?

Slavery? I had nothing to do with slavery and neither did my ancestors because they weren't in America until after 155 years ago when slavery ended. But my family has paid a FORTUNE in taxes for these useless programs over all these years and is still paying for it even though we didn't have a thing to do with black slavery. I think WE are the slaves.

Should black people be required to pay reparations to white people for all the years and trillions of dollars they wasted on these useless welfare programs getting nothing back for their money?

 

[TheGreenHornet]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

There is a reason for the statute of limitations....as in if we start going back in time to try and correct or make up past wrongs.....the list would be never ending and it would be totally self destructive of America or any nation that attempts something so foolish.

The liberals however are now engaged in such an effort....as they want to continue to divide America.....for political purposes.

I kind of agree with that in general, but in this case there are actual survivors of something.And I think possibly they can be recognized without the division. You are right though in that if every country continuously went backwards to fix everything, it might do more damage than the help that was intended. Any acts of reparations needs to be done with a certain amount of wisdom to avoid all that.

Look here, those folks who did that stuff are long dead....should you or anyone be held accountable for something someone else did...of course not.

Yet what we see happening with this Tulsa thing is an blatant attempt to blame whites in general for something they did not do and cannot be held accountable for.

This is just another form of racism aka a blanket indictment of a group that is no way responsible for that long ago event....the time for justice ran out long ago.....to resurrect such stuff does not benefit anyone....it can only serve to create more injustice.

We are a land of laws....yet unfortunately our legal system has failed many times...it is not perfect.

However, that is no excuse for some to try and use long ago wrongs to inflict present day revenge.....yet that is what this tulsa b.s. amounts to....not justice....but revenge.

Donât Confuse Revenge With Justice: Five Key Differences

Revenge can masquerade as justice, but it frequently ends up perverting it.

www.psychologytoday.com

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

For nearly a century she was denied a voice by a culture of silence. Finally, at the age of 107, Viola Fletcher got a national stage on Wednesday to bear witness to America’s deep history of racial violence.

Fletcher is the oldest living survivor of a massacre that took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 31 May and 1 June 1921 when a white mob attacked the city’s “Black Wall Street”, killing an estimated 300 African Americans while robbing and burning more than 1,200 businesses, homes and churches
She was just seven years old at the time.

For decades the atrocity was actively covered up and wished away. But Fletcher and her 100-year-old brother are seeking reparations and, ahead of the massacre’s centenary, appeared before a House of Representatives judiciary subcommittee considering legal remedies.

....A third survivor, Lessie Evelyn Benningfield Randle, 106, also testified virtually. She said: “It means a lot to me to finally be able to look at you all in the eye and ask you to do the right thing. I have waited so long for justice.”

âI am seeking justiceâ: Tulsa massacre survivor, 107, testifies to US Congress

Viola Fletcher is the oldest survivor of the racist attack on the city’s ‘Black Wall Street’ in 1921 that left up to 300 African Americans dead

www.theguardian.com

Just the fact that there are three survivors still living is mind blowing.

Im sort of scratching my head wondering why they didnt come forward earlier though, even when Obama was president for 8 years. I cant imagine his administration not giving these people a chance to talk.

Welcome to the world that black people live in. People had/have been coming forward ever since it happened in 1921 but nothing was ever done. I mean think about it, it was a malicious act, motivated by racial hatred and economic envy during a time in our country when white supremacy was still the law of the land. Even today if you ever wonder why a particular situation results in the outcome it does, think about who will be harmed if a legal option is pursued. The truth of the matter is far too often, a determination has been made that no action will be taken against whites when the victims, no matter how tragic or heinous the act, is black.

Tulsa Race Massacre: In aftermath, no one prosecuted for killings, and insurance claims were rejected but Greenwood persevered

Tulsa Race Massacre: In aftermath, no one prosecuted for killings, and insurance claims were rejected but Greenwood persevered​

A history of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

It isn’t that Tulsa did nothing for the victims of the race massacre. It’s that it didn’t do as much as it could have or, in the opinion of many, should have.

Disputes among the city’s white leadership hampered relief efforts. No one starved, but no one was made whole, either. Despite promises and threats, no one was prosecuted for the deaths resulting from the events of May 31-June 1, 1921.
Estimates of property damage vary widely, from $1.5 million to several times that amount. That translates to a minimum of $25 million today and perhaps twice that. Very few insurance claims were paid because most policies excluded riot damage from coverage.

Witnesses in a lawsuit brought by a white property owner, William Redfearn, testified that at least some law officers and many of the special officers commissioned by the Tulsa Police Department participated in the destruction of Greenwood. None, however, could say with certainty that the officers acted at the direction of local authorities.

As a result, the courts, including the Oklahoma Supreme Court, ruled against Redfearn and in favor of his insurance company. The decision effectively ended the hundreds of lawsuits and damage claims filed against insurance companies and the city of Tulsa.

In the days immediately following the massacre, a “public welfare committee” led by the Chamber of Commerce attempted to raise $100,000 but was thwarted by the city commission and a group intent on acquiring the southern section of the Greenwood District for commercial development.

This group, it soon became apparent, did not have the financial or political backing to carry out its proposal.
This was spelled out in a July 13 editorial by the Tulsa World, which said the community “must take on itself the responsibility of deciding to make full reparation for the losses sustained by the property owners.”
That didn’t happen.

As tracked by the Red Cross, a total of $130,000 in cash and goods was provided by Tulsa County, the city and private donations through the summer of 1921. That was not an insignificant sum at that time, but it hardly compared to the actual property losses in Greenwood.

It was also small compared to the millions raised in Tulsa during World War I and the millions Tulsans were about to spend to bring water from Spavinaw Creek.

Similarly, the criminal investigation into the massacre fizzled out. While a number of people were charged and even jailed on charges such as looting, possession of stolen property and arson, only a handful seem to have gone to trial. A few pleaded guilty to minor offenses.

With one or two exceptions, the African Americans who were jailed in the wake of the massacre were freed by the end of the summer.

Many prominent black men were indicted for “inciting a riot,” charges that would not be dismissed until decades later.

The only trial of any note involved Police Chief John Gustafson, who was brought before Judge Redmond Cole on ouster proceedings.

A grand jury indicted Gustafson on five counts, including dereliction of duty during the massacre. The other charges involved corruption, including a car theft ring within the department and using his office to sign up clients for his private detective agency.

This trial revealed to Tulsans and the world some of the massacre’s most shocking details, including John Oliphant’s eyewitness account of Dr. A.C. Jackson’s murder and the role of law officers and Gustafson’s special deputies in the destruction of Greenwood.

Gustafson was convicted on two counts, including dereliction of duty, and removed from office. No criminal charges were brought against him and he resumed his occupation as a private detective.
Still smarting from the failure of the relocation scheme it favored, the Tulsa Tribune on Oct. 2 published a caustic report that nevertheless revealed brisk activity in Greenwood.

“Left to their own resources (black Tulsans) have, with the assistance of white friends, practically rebuilt ‘Little Africa.’”
By the end of December, some 800 buildings had been completed in Greenwood with others in construction. In 1925, it was host to the National Negro Business League Convention, with keynote addresses by Gov. Martin Trapp and Mayor Herman Newblock.

So Greenwood rebuilt. Some would argue, though, that Tulsa never fully recovered. The grand jury investigating the massacre blamed it, in part, on lax enforcement of Jim Crow, and a lasting effect was to push blacks and whites, north and south, further apart.

In 1965, when the Oklahoma Legislature was formally scrubbing segregation from state statutes, the lone vote against repeal of two such statutes was by Tulsa County Rep. Perry Butler.

“I was in Tulsa when they had a race riot,” he said. “I don’t want to see it again.”

 

[ClaireH]

I hope congress acts quickly on this due to the ages of the living victims...every day matters...hey, that should be a political slogan: Every Day Matters..that doesn't leave anyone out.

It leaves out the white victims of black crime which are far greater in numbers than black victims which the majority of were long ago....what we should be concerned about is what is happening today.....

Blacks always want to play the victim....when others in truth have suffered way more than they have.

No race on earth has been given more than the blacks have....and yet like a bunch of hogs they run back to the trough screaming more,more....no matter how much has been given to them and is being given to these feral savages.....they are never satisfied.

They constantly whine about how bad they got it here in America.....ever see any of them go back to da muddland?

Other than on vacation? What a bunch of hypocrites."

GH: "It leaves out the white victims of black crime". My political slogan, Every Day Matters? No, it doesn't.
GH: "Blacks always want to play the victim:" No, they don't. Blanket generalizations are never right when it comes to people.
GH: "No race on earth has been given more than the blacks have." Requires a valid source, but for now I am going with either wrong or way off...a toss up.

I know your position which is clearly set in granite. When a poster repeats the same viewpoint over and over on a message board, without any sign of reflection or flexibility, it's not worth it trying to break through. I used to engage with political chatters who spewed venom on occasion, and am thankful for a message board that gives us a better platform for selecting our battles.

Should Black People Pay White People Reparations For The Trillions Of Dollars White Taxpayers Paid Them?​

Since President Johnson's "War on poverty" started over 50 years ago government has come up with an endless procession of programs that were supposed to lift black people out of poverty and promote their success.

But now, after over $25 trillion in taxes paid overwhelmingly by white people, more than the inflation adjusted cost of every war the United States has ever been in since the Revolutionary War, and hundreds of failed welfare programs which politicians created to help black people, they aren't one bit better off than they were 50 years ago. The taxpayers were soaked and got absolutely NOTHING for their money. Yet, the money is still being poured into black communities like a tidal wave to this day with no end in sight.

At some point aren't black people ever going to take responsibility for their own destiny?

Black people have more opportunity in America than white people. All over the country there are colleges drooling over the chance to admit black students, human resource departments dreaming about a qualified black person walking into their office so they can hire them, governments searching far and wide to find black people to hire on the taxpayers' payroll. Never in the history of the world have black people (or any people for that matter) had more opportunity to prosper than in the United States of America today. They have more opportunity than I do. So what is the problem?

Slavery? I had nothing to do with slavery and neither did my ancestors because they weren't in America until after 155 years ago when slavery ended. But my family has paid a FORTUNE in taxes for these useless programs over all these years and is still paying for it even though we didn't have a thing to do with black slavery. I think WE are the slaves.

Should black people be required to pay reparations to white people for all the years and trillions of dollars they wasted on these useless welfare programs getting nothing back for their money?

Let's look at a piece of your post, because I partly agree with your premise here. You wrote: "At some point aren't black people ever going to take responsibility for their own destiny?"

Along this line of thought of personal responsibility, every single adult should do their best with whatever hand they've been dealt. That said, there are some really bad hands held by many people from all walks of life, and no two people will handle the same hand the exact way. Some choose to do their very best, while others will give up instantly.

I agree with you that we Americans, overall, should be in control over our personal life conditions. I am talking about people who are physically and mentally capable of working for a living and contributing to society in some way. I'm leaving out referencing people who automatically qualify for government assistance to live their lives to the best of their ability: severely physically or mentally handicapped, veterans who've suffer from PTSD and various hardships from duty, and all kids in need of help/support.

Personally, I have great respect for people who have overcome great hardships. Anyone who does their personal best on a daily basis is typically living a good life in the US...typically but not a guarantee. Bad things can happen within the blink of an eye to switch it from everything is lovely one day to no house..or no job...or both...or worse.

When bad things happen to good people, you root for them to recover, yes? There are tragic events that happen daily within the states to good black people and good white people, do you agree? Would you agree that there are many "bad" (undeserving) able-bodied and minded white people who choose to be lazy and abuse the system?

In order to give people a fair shake, good and bad is not determined by skin color but by one's actions. All individuals and familes should be considered on a case by case basis. It's our thoughts, words and actions (or lack of), that define us.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

Actually it wouldn't surprise me at all if the powers-that-be aren't the least bit concerned that the statute of limitations have lapsed. I personally believe they are instead are holding out for the day when anyone who lived during the times in America when these types of obviously wrong and inhumane acts which were not only sanctioned by law and covered up, are all dead.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

I hope congress acts quickly on this due to the ages of the living victims...every day matters...hey, that should be a political slogan: Every Day Matters..that doesn't leave anyone out.

It leaves out the white victims of black crime which are far greater in numbers than black victims which the majority of were long ago....what we should be concerned about is what is happening today.....

Blacks always want to play the victim....when others in truth have suffered way more than they have.

No race on earth has been given more than the blacks have....and yet like a bunch of hogs they run back to the trough screaming more,more....no matter how much has been given to them and is being given to these feral savages.....they are never satisfied.

They constantly whine about how bad they got it here in America.....ever see any of them go back to da muddland?

Other than on vacation? What a bunch of hypocrites.

We're discussing ONE incident here. Do you have something comparable that whites suffered, and no the rioting and burning of businesses of criminals hiding behind the Black Lives Matter protests are not equivalent. It would have to be the torching of an entire white community with no one being arrested and none of the insurance claims for losses paid, including when the black banks were looted.

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

That's why it has to be reparations.