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

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

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.

So when

1) the identities of individuals who partook in criminal activity resulting in massive property loss and loss of lives are known 2) yet the authorities refuse to act possibly due to racial bias/hatred and​

3) the perpetrators are allowed to live out their lives without ever having to stand trial for their crimes then​

in your opinion, if we couldn't get them convicted while they alive 4) utilizing a racially discriminatory system then just too bad?

 

[TheGreenHornet]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

That's why it has to be reparations.

Let us look at what triggered this incident ...remembering after all this time many facts are unknown and witnesses no longer are with us thus the real truth has now come down to more conjecture than actual facts.

Here is what I found regarding what triggered this event.......

On May 30, 1921, a young Black teenager named Dick Rowland entered an elevator at the Drexel Building, an office building on South Main Street. At some point after that, the young white elevator operator, Sarah Page, screamed; Rowland fled the scene. The police were called, and the next morning they arrested Rowland.

By that time, rumors of what happened on that elevator had circulated through the city’s white community. A front-page story in the Tulsa Tribune that afternoon reported that police had arrested Rowland for sexually assaulting Page.
As evening fell, an angry white mob was gathering outside the courthouse, demanding the sheriff hand over Rowland. Sheriff Willard McCullough refused, and his men barricaded the top floor to protect the Black teenager.
Around 9 p.m., a group of about 25 armed Black men——went to the courthouse to offer help guarding Rowland. After the sheriff turned them away, some of the white mob tried unsuccessfully to break into the National Guard armory nearby.

With rumors still flying of a possible lynching, a group of around 75 armed Black men returned to the courthouse shortly after 10 pm, where they were met by some 1,500 white men, some of whom also carried weapons.

After shots were fired and chaos broke out, the outnumbered group of Black men retreated to Greenwood.
Over the next several hours, groups of white Tulsans—some of whom were deputized and given weapons by city officials—committed numerous acts of violence against Black people, including shooting an unarmed man in a movie theater.
The false belief that a large-scale insurrection among Black Tulsans was underway, including reinforcements from nearby towns and cities with large African American populations, fueled the growing hysteria.

None of which excuses what followed....but it does help make it more understandable.

In fact much more understandable than the black on black and black on white violence which makes the Tulsa incident seem rather tame in comparison....39 blacks in Tulsa were killed along with 11 whites.

How long does it take in Chicago now for blacks to kill 39 other blacks....just a long hot weekend.

 

[hjmick]

Smithsonian Magazine did a couple of great articles on the Tulsa Massacre last month:

Looking Back at the Tulsa Race Massacre, 100 Years Later

Confronting the murderous attack on the most prosperous black community in the nation

www.smithsonianmag.com

The Unrealized Promise of Oklahoma

How the push for statehood led a beacon of racial progress to oppression and violence

www.smithsonianmag.com

 

[NewsVine_Mariyam]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

That's why it has to be reparations.

Let us look at what triggered this event
[snipped]
None of which excuses what followed....but it does help make it more understandable.

In fact much more understandable than the black on black and black on white violence which makes the Tulsa incident seem rather tame in comparison....39 blacks in Tulsa were killed along with 11 whites.

How long does it take in Chicago now for blacks to kill 39 other blacks....just a long hot weekend.

There is nothing understandable about the actions of the white mob that torched the black community other than traditionally whites are allowed to walk away unscathed from the wanton crime and destruction of the lives and property of black people. Their behavior is often downplayed to make it seem as if there was no malice or ill intent involved and excuses galore are made for why they should not be punished, just look at how the mob who stormed the Capitol on January 6th was allowed to walk away, no arrests were made at that time even when they were still milling about after curfew.

In the case of the Tulsa race riot, the alleged perpetrator was in custody, but the white mob wanted the sheriff to turn him over so that they could lynch him. That should tell you every you need to know right there. These people weren't interested in justice, they wanted vengeance and blood due to the allegation that a white woman had been assaulted when it was reported that the black teenager Rowlands tripped while entering the elevator and made physical contact with the white female who was operating the lift.

One victim, one alleged perpetrator who was in custody yet for that "offense" they torched the entire black community.

When white racists burn crosses, lynch black people, bomb churches, etc. there isn't just one victim. The act terrorizes the entire black community and that is by design. When law enforcement fails to round up the perpetrators and prosecute them, that adds to the injury. When the courts fails to find them liable or convict them, this injustice further adds to the injury, not just to the individuals involved but to the entire black community and again this is by design and the purpose of these acts. That's why we have hate crime enhancements

Sometimes, a violent crime can be considered both a hate crime and a terrorist attack. An example is the 2015 massacre of nine African Americans at a church in Charleston by white supremacist Dylann Roof. For the most part, though, terrorist attacks are not included in tabulations of hate crimes.​

And unless I'm mistaken the gang violence that occurs in some inner cities that you are attempting to compare to what happened during the Tulsa race riots is "regular" criminal activity for which the perpetrators are charged and prosecuted when they are found. None of the white mob were ever even sought out from what I've read, let alone charged or prosecuted for their acts of violence.

On a side note, the Tulsa race riot took place before the FBI began collecting crime statistics but even if they had been during this time period, this incident would have gone on the record as being caused by blacks with blacks being the perpetrators and the only arrestees, instead of the violent crime victims which they were. Just another example of what I've stated before, that the FBI statistics are only as accurate as the data that goes into their database and that a lot of crime perpetrated against black has never ever formerly been acknowledged let alone justice obtained.

 

[Disir]

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.

Tulsa has been very involved in the last couple of years with trying to uncover information and righting wrongs. They have been searching for mass graves. Separating fact from fiction has been an issue.

 

[AMart]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

That's why it has to be reparations.

The Federal government didn't commit those crimes. The perps have been dead for a long time.

 

[Desperado]

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.”

‘I am seeking justice’: 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 a

re three survivors still living is mind blowing.

Biden is 78 an cannot remember what he did yesterday yet you trust the testimony of woman that is 107, on an event that happened 100 years ago when she was only 7 and the other surviving "witnesses" were even younger.?

 

[Disir]

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.”

‘I am seeking justice’: 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 a

re three survivors still living is mind blowing.

Biden is 78 an cannot remember what he did yesterday yet you trust the testimony of woman that is 107, on an event that happened 100 years ago when she was only 7 and the other surviving "witnesses" were even younger.?

Not sure where you read all that in my post.

 

[Desperado]

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.”

‘I am seeking justice’: 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 a

re three survivors still living is mind blowing.

Biden is 78 an cannot remember what he did yesterday yet you trust the testimony of woman that is 107, on an event that happened 100 years ago when she was only 7 and the other surviving "witnesses" were even younger.?

Not sure where you read all that in my post.

Just pointing out the obvious... Do the math and it becomes clear.

 

[surada]

I grew up in Okiehoma and they tried to hide all of the atrocities they carried out on blacks and Indians.

Extrapolate that nationwide and you'll begin to understand what black Americans have been saying for centuries.

Which is mostly bullshit.

Were you unaware of the Tulsa Massacre?

 

[freyasman]

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?

NewsVine_Mariyam The man makes some good points; his taxes, the fruits of his labors, are being taken from him by force and wasted..... will that wrong be redressed?
Doesn't he deserve to freed from economic slavery?
Why or why not?

 

[freyasman]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

That's why it has to be reparations.

From who exactly?

Every person who did anything to anyone in this incident is long dead, so who are you going to take these "reparations" from?

 

[Polishprince]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

Why is it "hard to imagine"? A lot of historical events have been covered up and the perps never held accountable. When will the people of Rome ever be held accountable for the unfair trial and execution of Jesus H. Christ? When will the Turks be held accountable for their terror attack on the city of Constantinople in 1453?

 

[Moonglow]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

That's why it has to be reparations.

Let us look at what triggered this incident ...remembering after all this time many facts are unknown and witnesses no longer are with us thus the real truth has now come down to more conjecture than actual facts.

Here is what I found regarding what triggered this event.......

On May 30, 1921, a young Black teenager named Dick Rowland entered an elevator at the Drexel Building, an office building on South Main Street. At some point after that, the young white elevator operator, Sarah Page, screamed; Rowland fled the scene. The police were called, and the next morning they arrested Rowland.

By that time, rumors of what happened on that elevator had circulated through the city’s white community. A front-page story in the Tulsa Tribune that afternoon reported that police had arrested Rowland for sexually assaulting Page.
As evening fell, an angry white mob was gathering outside the courthouse, demanding the sheriff hand over Rowland. Sheriff Willard McCullough refused, and his men barricaded the top floor to protect the Black teenager.
Around 9 p.m., a group of about 25 armed Black men——went to the courthouse to offer help guarding Rowland. After the sheriff turned them away, some of the white mob tried unsuccessfully to break into the National Guard armory nearby.

With rumors still flying of a possible lynching, a group of around 75 armed Black men returned to the courthouse shortly after 10 pm, where they were met by some 1,500 white men, some of whom also carried weapons.

After shots were fired and chaos broke out, the outnumbered group of Black men retreated to Greenwood.
Over the next several hours, groups of white Tulsans—some of whom were deputized and given weapons by city officials—committed numerous acts of violence against Black people, including shooting an unarmed man in a movie theater.
The false belief that a large-scale insurrection among Black Tulsans was underway, including reinforcements from nearby towns and cities with large African American populations, fueled the growing hysteria.

None of which excuses what followed....but it does help make it more understandable.

In fact much more understandable than the black on black and black on white violence which makes the Tulsa incident seem rather tame in comparison....39 blacks in Tulsa were killed along with 11 whites.

How long does it take in Chicago now for blacks to kill 39 other blacks....just a long hot weekend.

Chicago is not Tulsa, Oklahoma..

 

[freyasman]

Statute of limitations has long run out.

That's why it has to be reparations.

Let us look at what triggered this event
[snipped]
None of which excuses what followed....but it does help make it more understandable.

In fact much more understandable than the black on black and black on white violence which makes the Tulsa incident seem rather tame in comparison....39 blacks in Tulsa were killed along with 11 whites.

How long does it take in Chicago now for blacks to kill 39 other blacks....just a long hot weekend.

There is nothing understandable about the actions of the white mob that torched the black community other than traditionally whites are allowed to walk away unscathed from the wanton crime and destruction of the lives and property of black people. Their behavior is often downplayed to make it seem as if there was no malice or ill intent involved and excuses galore are made for why they should not be punished, just look at how the mob who stormed the Capitol on January 6th was allowed to walk away, no arrests were made at that time even when they were still milling about after curfew.

In the case of the Tulsa race riot, the alleged perpetrator was in custody, but the white mob wanted the sheriff to turn him over so that they could lynch him. That should tell you every you need to know right there. These people weren't interested in justice, they wanted vengeance and blood due to the allegation that a white woman had been assaulted when it was reported that the black teenager Rowlands tripped while entering the elevator and made physical contact with the white female who was operating the lift.

One victim, one alleged perpetrator who was in custody yet for that "offense" they torched the entire black community.

When white racists burn crosses, lynch black people, bomb churches, etc. there isn't just one victim. The act terrorizes the entire black community and that is by design. When law enforcement fails to round up the perpetrators and prosecute them, that adds to the injury. When the courts fails to find them liable or convict them, this injustice further adds to the injury, not just to the individuals involved but to the entire black community and again this is by design and the purpose of these acts. That's why we have hate crime enhancements

Sometimes, a violent crime can be considered both a hate crime and a terrorist attack. An example is the 2015 massacre of nine African Americans at a church in Charleston by white supremacist Dylann Roof. For the most part, though, terrorist attacks are not included in tabulations of hate crimes.​

And unless I'm mistaken the gang violence that occurs in some inner cities that you are attempting to compare to what happened during the Tulsa race riots is "regular" criminal activity for which the perpetrators are charged and prosecuted when they are found. None of the white mob were ever even sought out from what I've read, let alone charged or prosecuted for their acts of violence.

On a side note, the Tulsa race riot took place before the FBI began collecting crime statistics but even if they had been during this time period, this incident would have gone on the record as being caused by blacks with blacks being the perpetrators and the only arrestees, instead of the violent crime victims which they were. Just another example of what I've stated before, that the FBI statistics are only as accurate as the data that goes into their database and that a lot of crime perpetrated against black has never ever formerly been acknowledged let alone justice obtained.

Race riots suck, don't they?

It's why no one likes BLM.

 

[Moonglow]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

Why is it "hard to imagine"? A lot of historical events have been covered up and the perps never held accountable. When will the people of Rome ever be held accountable for the unfair trial and execution of Jesus H. Christ? When will the Turks be held accountable for their terror attack on the city of Constantinople in 1453?

When will God be held accountable for all those he murdered by a great flood? I can be stupid also with analogies.

 

[freyasman]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

Why is it "hard to imagine"? A lot of historical events have been covered up and the perps never held accountable. When will the people of Rome ever be held accountable for the unfair trial and execution of Jesus H. Christ? When will the Turks be held accountable for their terror attack on the city of Constantinople in 1453?

When will God be held accountable for all those he murdered by a great flood? I can be stupid also with analogies.

Didn't they nail his kid to a post?





Just saying.....

 

[Polishprince]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

Why is it "hard to imagine"? A lot of historical events have been covered up and the perps never held accountable. When will the people of Rome ever be held accountable for the unfair trial and execution of Jesus H. Christ? When will the Turks be held accountable for their terror attack on the city of Constantinople in 1453?

When will God be held accountable for all those he murdered by a great flood? I can be stupid also with analogies.

Actually, you libs are more pissed at Almighty God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as it showed Him to be a Divine Homophobe.

 

[Moonglow]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

Why is it "hard to imagine"? A lot of historical events have been covered up and the perps never held accountable. When will the people of Rome ever be held accountable for the unfair trial and execution of Jesus H. Christ? When will the Turks be held accountable for their terror attack on the city of Constantinople in 1453?

When will God be held accountable for all those he murdered by a great flood? I can be stupid also with analogies.

Actually, you libs are more pissed at Almighty God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as it showed Him to be a Divine Homophobe.

Actually I couldn't give ratz azz about Sodom and Gomorrah since this thread is about Tulsa

 

[Polishprince]

Hard to imagine it was covered up with nobody held accountable

Why is it "hard to imagine"? A lot of historical events have been covered up and the perps never held accountable. When will the people of Rome ever be held accountable for the unfair trial and execution of Jesus H. Christ? When will the Turks be held accountable for their terror attack on the city of Constantinople in 1453?

When will God be held accountable for all those he murdered by a great flood? I can be stupid also with analogies.

Actually, you libs are more pissed at Almighty God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as it showed Him to be a Divine Homophobe.

Actually I couldn't give ratz azz about Sodom and Gomorrah since this thread is about Tulsa

It might as well be about Sodom. Because , like in Tulsa, all of the responsible parties have long since passed away. And that's the real point. Do we hold people responsible for the actions of their predecessors?