Watch Three Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Ask For Justice During Capitol Hill Testimonies
Three survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre spoke before a House Judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday.
The month of March 2021 marks 100 years since the tragic Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma. In two days, around 300 residents of the predominately-Black neighborhood of Greenwood were killed, while 10,000 more were displaced due to firebombing. On Wednesday, three living survivors of the bombings--Viola Fletcher, her brother Hughes Van Ellis, and Lessie Benningfield Randle--testified before a House Judiciary Subcommittee about their experiences. Watch the full testimony below.
"I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, 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," Fletcher said. "I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot."
Fletcher, van Ellis, and Randle are plaintiffs in a reparations lawsuit from 2020. The three argue that the state of Oklahoma and Tulsa are responsible for the horrific events.