[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 19, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E550-E552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN SUPPORT OF H. RES. 398 RECOGNIZING THE FORTHCOMING CENTENNIAL OF THE 
                        1921 TULSA RACE MASSACRE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 19, 2021

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in strong support of 
H. Res. 398, the Recognizing the Forthcoming Centennial of the 1921 
Tulsa Race Massacre, recognizes one of the darkest moments in American 
history, the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre, that occurred in the 
African American Greenwood community of Tulsa, Oklahoma on May 31-June 
1, 1921.
  Madam Speaker, earlier this year I introduced a resolution (H. Res. 
215 later modified as H. Res. 398), joined by 84 cosponsors, 
recognizing the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
  The resolution was reintroduced as H. Res. 398 to make technical 
corrections to allow the House of Representatives to vote on the 
measure.
  On March 18, 2021, I am pleased to report that the H. Res. 398 passed 
the House as part of the House Rule for H.R. 1629, the Fairness in 
Orphan Drug Exclusivity Act, and H. Res. 275, the Condemning the 
horrific shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 16, 2021.
  As the great southern writer William Faulkner reminded us: ``The past 
is never dead. It's not even past.''
  Madam Speaker, as I and other Members spoke in support of H. Res. 
398, we recounted the hatreds, prejudices, resentments, and white 
supremacy that Black Americans witnessed and suffered in Greenwood a 
century ago are not dead; they are not even past.

[[Page E551]]

  A century ago, White rioters, local law enforcement, and self-
appointed vigilantes claimed to be acting reasonably and in self-
defense against what they feared was an upcoming Black uprising.
  They resented the economic prosperity and self-sufficiency of the 
Greenwood community, which was known nationally as ``Black Wall 
Street.''
  They viewed Black males as fearsome physical threats to their 
personal safety and as rivals to white women.
  These baseless, irrational concerns are not a relic of the past, they 
are with us today and are what resulted in the deaths of George Floyd, 
Tamir Rice, Deonte Wright, Stephon Clark, Amidou Diallo, and hundreds 
of others too numerous to list.
  In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood District, known as ``Black Wall 
Street,'' was one of the most documented prosperous African American 
communities in the United States.
  The Greenwood community with a population of over 100,000 Black 
people had stores that sold luxury items, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery 
stores, a hospital, a savings and loan bank, a post office, three 
hotels, jewelry and clothing stores, two movie theaters, a library, 
pool halls, a bus and cab service, a nationally recognized school 
system, six private airplanes, and two black newspapers.
  On May 31st of that year, the 35 city blocks of Greenwood went up in 
flames, at least 300 Black persons were murdered and more than 800 were 
injured; it is estimated that not less than 9,000 were left homeless 
and destitute.
  These rioters reenacted the brutality of the mob from a hundred years 
ago in the hallowed halls of the Citadel of Democracy.
  It should not be overlooked that the source of their irrational 
anger, hatred, and violent reaction was that Black Americans voted in 
overwhelming numbers in the Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and 
Detroit to oust the most negative, divisive, racially hostile, and 
incompetent presidents history, the 45th President, who presided over 
the deaths of more than 500,000 Americans, disproportionately Black and 
Brown.
  The legacy of white mob violence inflicted upon the Black community 
of Greenwood has scarred the descendants of the victims of this 
American pogrom.
  Madam Speaker, the events of January 6th have given us insight into 
what the people of Greenwood Oklahoma faced when they were attacked by 
a similar murderous mob.
  H. Res. 98 is a reminder to the nation of the ultimate cruelty 
inflicted upon a people for dare believing that the promise of America 
was attainable by them and their achievements would be respected and 
protected by law.
  But it does more than that, it puts the House of Representatives on 
record that the United States can achieve a more perfect union:
  by condemning the violence and destruction perpetrated against the 
African-American community of Greenwood, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the scene 
of the then-largest single instance of domestic terror against American 
citizens;
  through the rejection and active opposition to the false ideology of 
White supremacy and condemnation of all groups and organizations that 
ascribe to this false system of belief and seek to perpetuate their 
views through violence and unlawful conduct;
  by promoting tolerance and unity and taking actions to ensure that 
governmental policies and actions do not foster division, disharmony, 
or intolerance;
  by calling upon all Americans to celebrate the ethnic, racial, and 
religious diversity that has made the United States the leader of the 
community of nations and the beacon of hope and inspiration to 
oppressed persons everywhere;
  encouraging all persons in the United States to reflect upon the 
history of the United States as an imperfect but committed journey to 
establish a more perfect union and to cherish and exercise the rights, 
privileges, and responsibilities guaranteed by the Constitution; and
  recognizing the commitment of Congress to acknowledge and. learn from 
the history of racism and racial violence in the United States, 
including the Tulsa Race Massacre, to reverse the legacy of White 
supremacy and fight for racial justice.
  Madam Speaker, I will now briefly recount the horrific events cited 
in H. Res. 398 that were experienced by the law-abiding Black community 
of Greenwood on those terrible days.
  In 1921, White supremacy and racist violence were common throughout 
the United States and went largely unchecked by the justice system.
  In Tulsa, Oklahoma reports of an alleged and disputed incident on the 
morning of May 30, 1921, between two teenagers, a Black man and a White 
woman, caused the White community of Tulsa, including the Tulsa 
Tribune, to call for a lynching amidst a climate of White racial 
hostility and White resentment over Black economic success.
  On May 31, 1921, a mob of armed White men descended upon Tulsa's 
Greenwood District and launched what is now known as the ``Tulsa Race 
Massacre.''
  Tulsa municipal and county authorities failed to take actions to calm 
or contain the violence, and civil and law enforcement officials 
deputized many White men who were participants in the violence as their 
agents, directly contributing to the violence through overt and often 
illegal acts.
  Over a period of 24 hours, the White mob's violence led to the death 
of an estimated 300 Black residents, as well as over 800 reports of 
injuries.
  The White mob looted, damaged, burned, or otherwise destroyed 
approximately 40 square blocks of the Greenwood district, including an 
estimated 1,256 homes of Black residents, as well as virtually every 
other structure, including churches, schools, businesses, a hospital, 
and a library, leaving nearly 9,000 Black residents of the Greenwood 
community homeless and effectively wiping out tens of millions dollars 
in Black prosperity and wealth.
  In the wake of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Governor of Oklahoma 
declared martial law, and units of the Oklahoma National Guard 
participated in the mass arrests of all or nearly all of Greenwood's 
surviving residents, removing them from Greenwood to other parts of 
Tulsa and unlawfully detaining them in holding centers.
  Oklahoma local and state governments dismissed claims arising from it 
the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for decades, and the event was effectively 
erased from collective memory and history until, in 1997, the Oklahoma 
State Legislature finally created a commission to study the event.
  On February 28, 2001, the commission issued a report that detailed, 
for the first time, the extent of the Massacre and decades-long efforts 
to suppress its recollection.
  None of the law enforcement officials nor any of the hundreds of 
other White mob members who participated in the violence were ever 
prosecuted or held accountable for the hundreds of lives lost and tens 
of millions of dollars of Black wealth destroyed, despite the Tulsa 
Race Massacre Commission confirming their roles in the Massacre, nor 
was any compensation ever provided to the Massacre's victims or their 
descendants.
  Government and city officials not only abdicated their responsibility 
to rebuild and repair the Greenwood community in the wake of the 
violence, but actively blocked efforts to do so, contributing to 
continued racial disparities in Tulsa akin to those that Black people 
still face today across the United States.
  Madam Speaker, the pattern of violence against Black people in the 
United States, often at the hands of law enforcement, shows that the 
fight to end State-sanctioned violence against Black people continues.
  As the American Historical Association stated, ``What happened in 
Tulsa was extreme, but not unusual. It is part of our Nation's 
heritage. We must acknowledge that heritage, learn from it, and do 
whatever each of us can do to ensure that it is just that--heritage, 
rather than a continuing practice.''
  Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a more detailed account of the 
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that is based on the ``Final Report of the 
Oklahoma Commission to Study The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921,'' issued 
February 28, 2001.
  Madam Speaker, I also ask the House to observe a moment of silence in 
memory of the victims and survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and 
their descendants to carry the terrible memories of that horrific day 
and still grieve over the loss of so many loved ones and of faith in 
the American system of justice.


  Mother Randle's Written Testimony for the House Subcommittee on the 
      Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, May 19, 2021

       I am blessed and honored to be talking with you today. 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.
       My name is Lessie Evelyn Benningfield Randle. People call 
     me Mother Randle. Today, I am 106-years-old. 100 years ago, 
     in 1921, I was a 6-year-old child. I was blessed to live with 
     my grandmother in a beautiful Black community in Tulsa 
     Oklahoma, called Greenwood. I was lucky. I had a home. I had 
     toys. I didn't have any fears as a young child and I felt 
     very safe. My community was beautiful and was filled with 
     happy and successful Black people. Then everything changed.
       It was like a war. White men with guns came and destroyed 
     my community. We couldn't understand why. What did we do to 
     them? We didn't understand. We were just living. But they 
     came, and they destroyed everything.
       They burned houses and businesses. They just took what they 
     wanted out of the buildings then they burned them. They 
     murdered people. We were told they just dumped the dead 
     bodies into the river. I remember running outside of our 
     house. I ran past dead bodies. It wasn't a pretty sight. I 
     still see it today in my mind--100 years later.

[[Page E552]]

       I was so scared--I didn't think we would make it out alive. 
     I remember people were running everywhere. We waited for the 
     soldiers to come, and when they finally came, they took us to 
     the fairgrounds where we would be safe. It felt like so long 
     before they came.
       I survived the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. And I have 
     survived 100 years of painful memories and losses.
       By the grace of God, I am still here. I have survived. I 
     have survived to tell this story. I believe that I am still 
     here to share it with you. Hopefully now, you all will listen 
     to us. While we are still here.
       The white people who did this to us, were filled with so 
     much hate. It is disgusting that they hate us for no reason 
     except that we are Black people.
       We know--most of the people who committed these acts are 
     dead now. The three of us here today, are the only ones 
     left--that we know of. But just because these men are 
     probably dead, the City and County of Tulsa, the State of 
     Oklahoma, and the Tulsa Chamber are still responsible for 
     making it right.
       The City and County caused this to happen to us--
       The State allowed this happen to us--they didn't protect 
     us.
       The Chamber helped ensure that we could not rebuild after 
     the Massacre, including holding us in internment camps.
       They owe us something. They owe me something. I have lived 
     much of my life poor. My opportunities were taken from me. 
     And my community, North Tulsa--Black Tulsa--is still messed 
     up today. They didn't rebuild it. Its empty. It's a ghetto. 
     You can help us get some justice.
       America is full of examples where people in positions of 
     power, many just like you, have told us to wait. Others have 
     told us it's too late. It seems like justice in America is 
     always so slow or not possible for Blacks. And we are made to 
     feel crazy just for asking for things to be made right. There 
     are always so many excuses for why justice is so slow or 
     never happens at all.
       I am here today, at 106-years-old, looking at you all in 
     the eye. We've waited too long, and I am tired. We are tired. 
     I am asking you today to give us some peace. Please give me, 
     my family, and my community some justice.
       Thank you.


 Hughes Van Ellis Written Testimony for the House Subcommittee on the 
      Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, May 19, 2021

       My name is Hughes Van Ellis. I am 100 years old. And I am a 
     survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Because of the Massacre, 
     my family was driven from our home. We were left with 
     nothing. We were made refugees in our own country.
       My childhood was hard and we didn't have much. We worried 
     what little we had would be stolen from us. Just like it was 
     stolen in Tulsa. You may have been taught that when something 
     is stolen from you, you can go to the courts to be made 
     whole. You can go to the courts to get justice. This wasn't 
     the case for us. The courts in Oklahoma wouldn't hear us. The 
     federal courts said we were too late.
       We were made to feel that our struggles were unworthy of 
     justice. That we were less valued than whites, that we 
     weren't fully American. We were shown that in the United 
     States, not all men were equal under law. We were shown that 
     when Black voices called out for justice, no one cared.
       But we still had faith things would get better. We still 
     believed in the promise of America and in the cause of 
     freedom.
       I did my duty in World War II. I served in combat in the 
     Far East with the 234th AAA Gun Battalion. We were an all-
     black battalion. I fought for freedom abroad, even though it 
     was ripped away from me at home, even after my home and my 
     community were destroyed, I did it because I believed, in the 
     end, America would get it right.
       When I returned home from the war, I didn't find any of the 
     freedom I was fighting for overseas. Unlike white servicemen, 
     I wasn't entitled to GI Bill benefits because of the color of 
     my skin. I came home to segregation. A separate and unequal 
     America. But still I believed in America,
       This is why we are still speaking up today, even at the age 
     of 100. The Tulsa Race Massacre isn't a footnote in a history 
     book for us. We live with it every day and the thought of 
     what Greenwood was and what it could have been. We aren't 
     just black and white pictures on a screen, we are flesh and 
     blood. I was there when it happened, I'm still here. My 
     sister was there when it happened, she's still here.
       We're not asking for a handout. All we are asking for is 
     for a chance to be treated like a first-class citizen who 
     truly is a beneficiary of the promise that this is a land 
     where there is ``liberty and justice for all.''
       We are asking for justice for a lifetime of ongoing harm. 
     Harm that was caused by the Massacre. You can give us the 
     chance to be heard and give us a chance to be made whole 
     after all these years and after all our struggle.
       I still believe in America. I still believe in the ideals 
     that I fought overseas to defend. And I believe if given the 
     chance you will do the right thing and justice will be 
     served. Thank you.


Written Testimony of Mother Viola Fletcher for the Subcommittee on the 
  Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, Wednesday, May 19, 
                                  2021

       My name is Viola Fletcher, or Mother Fletcher. I am the 
     daughter of Lucinda Ellis and John Wesley Ford of Tulsa, 
     Oklahoma. I am the sister of Hughes Van Ellis, who is also 
     here today. And I am a survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre. 
     Two weeks ago, I celebrated my 107th birthday.
       Today, I am in Washington, D.C. for the first time in my 
     life. I am here seeking justice. I am here asking my country 
     to acknowledge what happened in Tulsa in 1921.
       On May 31st 1921, I went to bed in my family's home in the 
     Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa. The neighborhood I feel 
     asleep in that night was rich--not just in terms of wealth, 
     but in culture, community, and heritage. My family had a 
     beautiful home. We had great neighbors and I had friends to 
     play with. I felt safe. I had everything a child could need. 
     I had a bright future ahead of me. Greenwood could have given 
     me the chance to truly make it in this country.
       Within a few hours, all of that was gone. The night of the 
     Massacre I was woken up by my family. My parents and five 
     siblings were there. I was told we had to leave. And that was 
     it.
       I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we 
     left our house. I still see Black men being shot, and Black 
     bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. 
     I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear 
     airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I live through 
     the Massacre every day.
       Our country may forget this history. I cannot. I will not. 
     The other survivors do not. And our descendants do not.
       When my family was forced to leave Tulsa, I lost my chance 
     at an education. I never finished school past the fourth 
     grade. I have never made much money. My country, state, and 
     city took a lot from me. Despite this, I spent time 
     supporting the war effort in the shipyards of California. But 
     for most of my life, I was a domestic worker serving white 
     families. I never made much money. To this day, I can barely 
     afford my everyday needs. All the while the City of Tulsa 
     have unjustly used the names and stories of victims like me 
     to enrich itself and its White allies through the $30 million 
     raised by the Tulsa Centennial Commission while I continue to 
     live in poverty.
       I am 107 years old and have never seen justice. I pray that 
     one day I will. I have been blessed with a long life--and 
     have seen the best and worst of this country. I think about 
     the horrors inflicted upon Black people in this country every 
     day.
       This Subcommittee has the power to lead us down a better 
     path. I am asking that my country acknowledge what has 
     happened to me. The trauma. The pain. The loss. And I ask 
     that survivors and descendants be given a chance to seek 
     justice. Open the courtroom doors to us.
       I believe we must acknowledge America's sins. It is the 
     least we can do.
       I saw what happened here on January 6th this year. It broke 
     my heart. It reminded me of what happened 100 years ago. And 
     now, I hear some of you on TV saying it didn't happen, like 
     we didn't see it with our own eyes. It happened on live TV. 
     100 years ago, there was no TV, but you have me here right 
     now. You see Mother Randle. You see my brother, Hughes Van 
     Ellis. We lived this history. We can't ignore it. It lives 
     with us.
       We lost everything that day. Our homes. Our churches. Our 
     newspapers. Our theaters. Our lives. Greenwood represented 
     the best of what was possible for Black people in America--
     and for all people. No one cared about us for almost 100 
     years. We, and our history, have been forgotten, washed away. 
     This Congress must recognize us, and our history. For Black 
     Americans. For white Americans. For all Americans. That's 
     some justice.
       Thank you.

                          ____________________