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uvmagazine · 4 years ago

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Lessie Benningfield Randle, a 105-year old Black woman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, one of two known survivors of the Tulsa massacre that is still alive, has filed a lawsuit demanding reparations. She alleges that the act of racial violence is still haunting the community after almost 100 years. Randle leads the lawsuit claiming she still experiences evocative flashbacks of the burning streets filled with staked up bodies, according to her attorneys. As a child, Randle witnessed the race massacre that occurred on May 31 and June 1, 1921. Around 300 Black people were killed by a white mob, allegedly backed by local authorities and police. Hundreds of homes and businesses were looted, and Tulsa's thriving Greenwood district was torched. The lawsuit accuses the city of Tulsa, Tulsa County, the then serving sheriff of Tulsa County, the Oklahoma national guard, and Tulsa regional chamber of being directly involved in the massacre and having “unjustly enriched themselves at the expense of the black citizens of Tulsa and the survivors and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.” The plaintiffs also argue the effects of the massacre are still felt in the Greenwood district today. They say unemployment among Black Tulsans is more than double that of white people in the city and that the median household income for Black residents is $20,000 less than their white counterparts. For decades, the survivors of the massacre fought for justice. In a 2001 report, evidence found that the city indeed conspired with white citizens against Black residents. Direct payments to survivors and descendants were then suggested but no payments were ever made and they were only given a medal by the city. While no specific damage amount was sought in the court filing, the suit estimates just the property damage suffered by residents of the Greenwood district is between $50 million and $100 million in today's currency. • #Tulsa #TulsaMassacre #BlackWallStreet #reparations #unheardvoicesmag #LessieBenningfieldRandle #GreenwoodDistrict https://www.instagram.com/p/CFLfZfaFLz6/?igshid=1qyf9c6s7qnt3

#tulsa #tulsamassacre #blackwallstreet #reparations #unheardvoicesmag #lessiebenningfieldrandle #greenwooddistrict

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