[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 23, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H3078-H3079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HIGHLIGHTING JUNETEENTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 
Owens) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to once again highlight our 
newest Federal holiday, Juneteenth, or Emancipation Day.
  For Americans who are not familiar with this day, it has been 
celebrated within the Black community for over 150 years. This was the 
day when the message finally reached Black Texans living in Galveston 
that slavery was over and that they were indeed free.
  The Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln 
on September 22, 1862. Union General Gordon Granger arrived with over 
2,000 troops to deliver this message to the former slaves on June 19, 
1865, 3 years later.
  The lesson that can be learned from this special day is twofold. For 
almost 3 years, Black Texans lived as slaves at a time when the price 
had already been paid for them to live free. As it was with Juneteenth 
1865, it would be the Republican Party that delivered the message to my 
race: You are free.
  In America, in the land of freedom, success is a personal choice. It 
is not easy, nor is it guaranteed. But if you choose to dream, work, 
sacrifice, and remain patient, you can, regardless of your skin color, 
live your American Dream.
  The remarkable success of the late 1800s all-Black Greenwood 
community speaks to the tenacity, pride, innovation, and 
entrepreneurial spirit of a race that rose in less than 50 years from 
slavery. Its destruction in 1921, within 12 hours, also highlights the 
vulnerability of the American Dream in the absence of the rule of law. 
Deep Greenwood, referred to as ``Little Africa'' and ``Black Wall 
Street,'' was the most wealthy and prosperous Black community in 
America in the early 1900s.
  During the 1820s, several successful and prominent Black 
entrepreneurs were drawn to Oklahoma due to a nationwide economic 
depression and the discovery of oil. The local economy boomed, with 
Blacks in Tulsa representing all professional occupations, from day 
laborers, cooks, and shoe shiners to physicians, schoolteachers, and 
entrepreneurs.
  Racism and the influence of Jim Crow laws made it so that Blacks 
could work in White areas but could not spend their money there. This 
led to the creation of Deep Greenwood.
  With business dollars circulating only within their own community, 
many Blacks began to buy land and start their businesses. Black Wall 
Street became the center of the town, featuring restaurants, jewelry 
stores, hotels, theaters, places of worship, and three Black 
newspapers.
  By the way, in the 1960s, when I was growing up, this describes my 
segregated community, a community of entrepreneurs where, across our 
country, 50 to 60 percent of Black Americans belonged to the middle 
class.
  Over 600 business owners helped Black Wall Street become influential, 
including a funeral parlor, barbershops, dental and medical offices, 
schools, libraries, a hospital, insurance and loan companies, airline 
charter services, a bus service, international businesses, and 
nightclubs.
  The Black community was thriving, and their collective success 
rivaled that of Tulsa. But in these times of racism and deep 
prejudices, the success of Black Wall Street created a tinderbox of 
tension.
  On May 30, 1921, a 17-year-old White woman accused Dick Rowland, a 
Black shoe shiner, of criminally assaulting her when he accidentally 
stepped on her foot. She slapped him, and in response, he grabbed her 
arm to prevent her from hitting him.
  Realizing his self-defense move might cause problems, he fled the 
scene. The next day, he was jailed. The Tulsa Tribune printed a story 
announcing that a ``negro would be lynched tonight.''
  Three hours after the Tulsa Tribune released the story, hundreds of 
White men gathered at the Tulsa courthouse where Rowland was being 
held. Many Blacks who wanted to protect Rowland from being lynched 
rushed to the courthouse to defend him.
  False rumors about the incident caused a struggle between White 
protestors and Blacks in front of the courthouse. Shots rang out, and 
12 men were killed.
  As the fighting continued, Tulsa Whites began an all-out assault on 
Deep Greenwood, including dropping firebombs from the air. Fire 
engulfed the entire Black district. Deep Greenwood burned all day on 
May 31. At the end of the attack, Black Wall Street was no longer 
standing.
  In total, 300 people were murdered; 35 acres of commercial and 
residential property were destroyed; 1,400 homes and businesses were 
looted and burned; 10,000 people were left homeless; $1.8 million in 
damage, which in today's dollar amounts would be $27 million. It was 
estimated the total value lost would be valued at $200 million in 
today's dollars. Over 600 businesses were destroyed, and as is today, 
these businesses were the engine that powered the self-sufficient 
middle class.
  By the time the police chief asked the National Guard to help quell 
the ``negro uprising,'' it was too late. The city was already 
destroyed. A grand jury held him responsible for dereliction of duty. 
He was removed from office, found guilty in the trial, but never served 
any time in jail.
  I would like to introduce you to some of the Black leaders in Deep 
Greenwood, Oklahoma, the city of millionaires.
  Dr. A.C. Jackson, a physician, transcended the color lines, servicing 
both Black and White patients. He was considered the most skilled Black 
surgeon in America, with a net worth of over $100,000, which, in 2019, 
would have a value of over a million dollars. Dr. Jackson was murdered 
during the massacre at age 40.
  E.W. Woods was the first principal of the all-Black Booker T. 
Washington High School. Woods set the standard for high expectations at 
school.
  John Stradford was the owner of a 45-room luxury hotel in Greenwood, 
the largest Black-owned-and-operated hotel in Oklahoma, and one of the 
few Black-owned hotels in the United States. He was the son of an 
escaped slave, and he came to Oklahoma in 1899 and was the wealthiest 
man on Black Wall Street.

  Simon Berry owned a nickel-a-ride jitney service, a bus line, a 
boutique hotel, and a charter plane service.
  John and Loula Williams owned a 1911 luxury Norwalk Touring. This 
couple launched multiple venues, a theater, a confectionary, a rooming 
house, and a garage.
  Buck Colbert Franklin, an attorney in Deep Greenwood, was known for 
defending the survivors of the Greenwood massacre. He was the father of 
civil rights advocate and historian John Hope Franklin.
  These successful Black leaders all faced the darkness of the 1921 
massacre.
  John Stradford's hotel laid in ruins after the burning of Deep 
Greenwood and was never rebuilt. Stradford was indicted for inciting a 
riot and fled Greenwood.
  The Mt. Zion Baptist Church was just 40 days old and was destroyed. 
The cost to rebuild and furnish was $135,000.
  During the riot, homes were looted and burned, and thousands of Black 
people were left homeless.
  There were 88 indictments served against Blacks and Whites alike, but 
all charges were either dismissed or ignored.
  The KKK used the massacre as a recruiting tool, stating that ``the 
riot was the best thing that ever happened to Tulsa'' and sold 
postcards in Tulsa's downtown streets to raise money.
  Republican Representative Dyer from Missouri introduced a Federal 
antilynching bill, the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill. Democrats in the Senate 
delayed the bill and eventually killed it. Between 1882 and 1968, 
nearly 200 antilynching bills were introduced in Congress, and seven 
U.S. Presidents between 1890 and 1952 also asked Congress to pass a 
Federal antilynching law. All efforts failed to pass due to the 
stalling tactics by the Democratic Congress and Senate.

[[Page H3079]]

  The comparison of 1921 Tulsa and the 2020 summer can be summarized in 
these words: a lack of rule of law.
  In 1921, what had taken nine decades to build in Greenwood was 
destroyed within a matter of 12 hours. Ninety-nine years later, 
following the murder of George Floyd, riots stretched throughout our 
country in predominantly Black urban cities. Over the summer of 2020, 
more than 1,500 businesses, residences, and government buildings were 
destroyed, along with the lives of 25 Americans.
  Jeremiah Ellison, a councilman in Minnesota, where a police precinct 
house itself was set on fire, advised the mayor to leave the vandals 
alone. ``The focus of anger is the police and this building,'' he 
reasoned. ``If we let the crowd do its thing, we might spare the 
neighborhood.'' History will forever note how wrong he was.
  In Portland, Oregon, the summer riots of 2020 have resulted in $23 
million lost. Yet, the Portland mayor, Ted Wheeler, tweeted that 
Federal officers were bringing violence and life-threatening tactics to 
the city. ``The best thing they can do is stay inside their building or 
leave Portland altogether,'' he said.
  In Kenosha, Wisconsin, over half the people arrested in the aftermath 
were from out of town. Property damage topped $50 million and put close 
to 40 businesses out of business.
  Even in my own Salt Lake City, cop cars were burned. The Salt Lake 
City Council chairman declared that overturning and burning a police 
cruiser was a ``small sacrifice over physical clashes between officers 
and civilians.'' Meanwhile, 21 police officers were injured.
  At the end of the summer riots of 2020, over 20 States witnessed 
violent riots, with insurance claims between $1 billion and $2 billion.
  Once again, most tragically, 25 American citizens lost their lives, 
including a respected retired Black officer who was murdered in cold 
blood protecting the store of a friend.
  In New York City, politicians passed no-bail laws, allowing criminals 
and rioters to return to the streets the very next night to loot and 
again attack New York City police.
  In Portland, as the city is still reeling and businesses remained 
hostages to criminals, thousands of rioters' charges have been dropped.
  We must learn several things from our history. Whether it be the 
destruction of 1921 Black Wall Street businesses or 2020 Black urban 
cities throughout our Nation, consistent is a pattern of failure of 
elected officials to uphold the rule of law. Instead of championing 
Black and minority business owners, many of these officials stood aside 
as these communities were destroyed. Consistent with the acts in 1921 
and that of 2020 was the criminal predators' justification, always in 
the name of so-called racial justice.
  From these two dark chapters, accountability must be a lesson 
learned. As we demand equal opportunity for all Americans for life, 
liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and property, we the people become 
more unified and free.

  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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