Oklahoma Supreme Court Dismisses Tulsa Massacre Survivors' Lawsuit for Reparations
The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit of the last two survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit by survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, stating that the grievances about the destruction of the Greenwood district did not fall within the scope of the state's public nuisance statute. The court stated that there was no physical injury to property in Greenwood that could be resolved by a court action. The lawsuit was brought under Oklahoma's Public nuisance law under the name of Black Wall Street, arguing that the actions of the white mob continue to affect the city today and contributed to racial and economic disparities. The survivors, Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher, who are now over 100 years old, sued in 2020 in an effort to get justice in their lifetime.
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The nine-member court upheld the decision made by a district court judge in Tulsa last year, ruling that the plaintiff’s grievances about the destruction of the Greenwood district, although legitimate, did not fall within the scope of the state’s public nuisance statute.
“Plaintiffs do not point to any physical injury to property in Greenwood rendering it uninhabitable that could be resolved by way of injunction or other civil remedy,” the court wrote in its decision. “Today we hold that relief is not possible under any set of facts that could be established consistent with plaintiff’s allegations.”
The city said in a statement that it “respects the court’s decision and affirms the significance of the work the City continues to do in the North Tulsa and Greenwood communities,” adding that it remains committed “to working with residents and providing resources to support” the communities.
The suit was an attempt to force the city of Tulsa and others to compensate for the destruction of the once-thriving Black district by a white mob.
In 1921 — on May 31 and June 1 — the white mob, including some people hastily deputized by authorities, looted and burned the district, which was referred to as Black Wall Street.
The two survivors of the attack, Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher, who are both now over 100 years old, sued in 2020 with the hope of seeing what their attorney called “justice in their lifetime.” A third plaintiff, Hughes Van Ellis, died last year at age 102.
The lawsuit was brought under Oklahoma’s public nuisance law, arguing that the actions of the white mob continue to affect the city today. It contended that Tulsa’s long history of racial division and tension stemmed from the massacre.
The city and insurance companies never compensated victims for their losses, and the massacre ultimately resulted in racial and economic disparities that still exist today, the lawsuit argued. It sought a detailed accounting of the property and wealth lost or stolen in the massacre, the construction of a hospital in north Tulsa and the creation of a victims compensation fund, among other things.
주제: Lawsuits, Supreme Court