Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York from illustrating, elaborating on, detailing, and bringing to the 21st century the horrors of the Tulsa race riots, calling it what it is and not…
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York from illustrating, elaborating on, detailing, and bringing to the 21st century the horrors of the Tulsa race riots, calling it what it is and not being fearful of acknowledging the riotist and violent impact of the Tulsa race riots.
Madam Speaker, it is my honor to now continue the discussion on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus and my cochair of the Special Order hour, the Honorable Congressman Torres of New York.
Let me, first of all, thank our chair, Chairwoman Beatty, for matching her members with this process of ensuring that the history, the unbiased history of a people in all of our variations is told truthfully.
We, too, are Americans. The Tulsan residents of that time were Americans as well.
I am reminded of the early stages of my education. When Congressman
Torres' history was the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, I could almost repeat that in my sleep, the three ships that came with Christopher Columbus. He was the founder of America--over and over again.
I'm not sure during the period of our early childhood and those of recent vintage learned anything of Native American history, Korean- American history, Japanese-American, Chinese-American, African- American, slavery. I don't know if our children in periods of the 20th century and now in the 21st century knew there was more history.
I do know that the past President wanted the Smithsonian, the African-American culture, to stop teaching about African history. I know that there was a challenge to the U.S. Department of Education by Minority Leader McConnell, to stop teaching the 1619 Project. It baffles me because I believe that, if a country or a people know its history, we will not be doomed to repeat the past.
When I say ``a people,'' America is represented by many people. If we knew each other's history, if we understood each other's history, could we not--even if not those who are already past understanding, but could our children grow up with empathy and understanding?
That is why we are here on the floor of the House. We are not here to castigate and to throw untruthful hits. We are here to tell the truth.
Madam Speaker, tears come to my eyes as a series--and I only get to look at television late in the night, after all the day's work is done, and there is a series called ``The Underground Railroad.'' You cannot look at that without shaking in your boots, shaking in the chair you are sitting in, tears coming to your eyes.
That is the empathy that America can understand for all the journeys that so many of us have taken. We have taken it, and we are here in this place. The greatest experiment that the world watches.
Can they make it?
They were watching it from Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and then General Granger in 1865.
They watched us through the 1800s. We failed. Reconstruction did not work. Even with all the Governors and Congress people that had been elected are freed slaves. That ugly head of racism, white supremacy, lynching, the tearing asunder of Black communities, the still tearing apart of families, the lynching of men and women who went off to the grocery store--when I say that, the local store, whatever it was down the road--and never came back.
In 1921--boy, I am just so proud of this picture--this is bustling Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is the example of the excitement. I am reading where it says the McGowan Variety Store. There are some McGowans in Houston. They might be related. These are the prancing people with their cowboy hats on. It looks as if students, just like we would see in our neighborhoods today or in our high schools today, dancers, they had a full holistic community. There is some cars on the street.
Can you imagine 1921?
Oh, I wish I could just take a trip back, just stand on the sidewalk, and just look with pride of history I did not know. I never imagined there were cities like Tulsa, Oklahoma, as I was growing up as a child. I never imagined we had anything, we were worth anything, except for what my mother and father and grandparents poured into me.
My big mother, which was my great-grandmother, owned property obviously destroyed by the highways and freeways that came in and took it away in St. Petersburg, Florida. I just thought that was our way of life. Just like I thought riding in the back of a train going south to visit her, sitting by my lonely with a bag of fried chicken--that is right, I am not embarrassed--to carry me through to visit my grandmother in St. Petersburg, Florida. Thank God, I got there safely. I was just about 8 or 9 or 10, and I was sitting in the colored car, and I wasn't supposed to move except for necessary purposes.
I didn't know--I didn't know I could come here and see this. And our children don't know it. That is why we are on the floor today. We are on the floor today because we have to begin to embrace each other's story.
So I am very delighted that I am leading on H. Res. 398, embraced by the Congressional Black Caucus. This will be on the floor of the House this coming Wednesday. And my counterpart in the United States Senate is a very dear friend, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who believes in this resolution, that is the recognizing of the forthcoming centennial, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. And it doesn't say ``riot.'' It says ``massacre.'' It was a massacre.
I Thank the House leadership. I thank them for their understanding the value and importance of this as we lead into June and begin to move on H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals. It is nothing harmful. There is nothing that will undermine anyone. It is to accept what happened.
So I am so grateful we have almost 100 cosponsors, and maybe more to come into the next 24 hours, for a story that was never told.
Oh, yes, as a little Black girl, I could tell you about Columbus, tell you about Abraham Lincoln, tell you about George Washington. And most of them today in the 21st century, they are not hearing about the wide diversity of our history, Madam Speaker--yours and mine and the many people that are on this side of the aisle or that side of the aisle.
So let me just recount very briefly again. A century ago, White rioters, local law enforcement, and self-appointed vigilantes claim to be acting reasonably and in self-defense against what they feared was an upcoming Black uprising.
Same as January 6, where there are people who had the audacity to say it looked like tourists on any normal day, when we were laying flat on the floor in this building while banging and screams and guns drawn on this side of that door. We didn't know whether we would live. And a lifesaving shot for that person who did not know what was happening, attempting to save lives. Sadly, someone lost their life.
Members in near panic--rightly so--leaving these Chambers and walking down and seeing AK-47s in the hands of individuals laying flat on the ground, that our brave officers had under their watch.
Yes, rioters. But in Greenwood, I want this picture to be embedded in your DNA, because you will see economic prosperity, self-sufficiency. Yes, it was known as the Black Wall Street. They viewed, however, black males as fearsome, physical threats to their personal safety, and the rivals of White women. I don't know what happened in an elevator, allegedly. The story, you know, it is always a mystery, but some claim of some insult that occurred.
And all of a sudden the word went out enraging leaders of the White community, fine citizens, probably in some church over the weekend. When I say in their church in that time, because they were always using the Bible wrongly and incorrectly. And I will say that because I believe in a merciful redemptive Jesus, as a Christian. There are many other faiths, Torah and Koran and others.
But I know in the redemptive faith of Christianity, we believe in redemption. We don't go out because we know that we have had one to sacrifice for us on the cross so that we might be redeemed. We sing that song in our community, ``Let the Redeemed Say So.'' But apparently they didn't have that memory.
100,000 Black people lived in that area, sold luxury items. Twenty- one restaurants, 30 grocery stores, a hospital, savings and loan, a post office, three hotels, jewelry and clothing, two movie theaters, a library, pool halls, bus and cab service, a nationally recognized school system. A nationally recognized school system, when all of us are fighting for our children to be educated.
Today, I left Houston. And guess what? We have a new resident of Texas: Curtis Jackson, known as 50 Cent.
We were standing together because he was producing with Mayor Turner and Al Kashani and the School Superintendent Grenita Lathan, and all elected officials to announce an entrepreneurial program.
Can you imagine, to be able to build up our children?
They had two Black newspapers, six private planes. And I want to say it again, a recognized school system.
On May 31 of that year, 35 city blocks went up in flames and 300 persons were
murdered and, to my knowledge, buried in an unmarked grave; 800 were injured and 9,000 were left homeless.
Yes, one cannot ignore this history, but it has been ignored, it has been snuffed out, it has been put under.
I never knew about it until people like Dr. Crutcher, from this great city, and various leaders that have brought to our attention even more. But over the years, obviously, in my study of reparations, I have seen the insults that have happened when no one bothered to respond.
Brutality that we are now trying to correct by acknowledging in H. Res. 398, and I hope my colleagues will come to the floor of the House to be able to address it.
Let me show you what that massacre generated, and you will understand.
Madam Speaker, how much time is remaining?
Madam Speaker, you saw the bustling town. You saw the bustling town. This is a charred Negro who suffered in the Tulsa riots.
Yes, I am like Emmett Till's mother, Let the world see it. This is what happened to an innocent Black person.
By the way, the dead included children. Tulsa Historical Society. This is America. And this is a story that we failed to tell. This is what happened.
We have more stories to tell. We believe that a picture is worth a thousands words. We can never, never overcome that burned, charred body.
I showed you what Tulsa looked like, the Black Wall Street, and the burned-out ruins of Greenwood. Tulsa, Oklahoma library--they even got it in the library. I don't know how many people have seen it. It is a wasteland, a literal wasteland. Smoke is coming up. People's homes are gone. Wealth is gone. People were never to be presented with any relief. None. I don't even think they got a thank-you--not even a thank-you.
So our resolution condemns violence and destruction perpetrated against the African-American community of Greenwood. Our resolution has a rejection and active opposition to the false ideology of white supremacy and condemnation of all groups. Our resolution believes in promoting tolerance and unity, and taking action to ensure governmental policies and action to promote tolerance and unity.
Our resolution is calling for all Americans to celebrate the ethnic, racial, and religious diversity that has made the United States great. Our resolution encourages all persons of the United States to reflect upon the history of the United States as an imperfect but committed journey to establish a more perfect union. Our resolution is recognized as a commitment of Congress to acknowledge and learn from the history of racism and racial violence in the United States.
Our resolution lays the groundwork for moving to H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals, because we can see it in real life.
So this is part of the Tulsa that never got acknowledged.
Madam Speaker, let me show you additional fires so you can see the buildings going up in smoke. We are not making it up. All of these buildings--brick buildings--were burned to the ground.
Can you imagine someone who survived the post-traumatic stress, the horrors of their life, the willingness not to live anymore, and the giving up of hope?
People wonder, oh, those lazy Negroes and colored people who worked for over 250 years in bondage.
Finally, I am going to put the picture of the slaves, the individuals. So this is the story we tell tonight. We don't even tell it with a sense of vengeance. We tell it with a sense of dignity, respect, and honor. The courage of those people, and the genius of those people--they weren't even freed slaves for 100 years and look what they created.
There is a story on CNN: ``My great-grandmother survived the 1921 Tulsa massacre. We are not heeding her history.'' For what was once the wealthiest Black neighborhood in America became charred ash in a matter of hours. But we have not come to a conclusion to end this kind of White supremacy and racism.
Madam Speaker, I include this in the Record.
[From CNN, May 14, 2021]
Opinion: My Great-Grandmother Survived the 1921 Tulsa Massacre. We're
Not Heeding Her History
A century ago, my Black brothers and sisters were decimated
by one of the worst occurrences of racial violence in our
nation's history. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, White gangs
flooded into the thriving Greenwood neighborhood and murdered
up to 300 Black men, women and children. According to the
Tulsa Historical Society, 1,500 Black homes were burned,
along with over 600 businesses, and places of worship,
healing, learning and gathering.
My great-grandmother, Rebecca Brown Crutcher--a woman who
was the picture of Black excellence--lived and worked in the
Greenwood community. But in 1921, she fled in fear of her
life as White Tulsans burned her neighborhood to the ground.
What was once the wealthiest Black neighborhood in America
became charred ash in a matter of hours. 10,000 Black
residents were left homeless--and an entire generation of
Black Tulsans were robbed of their wealth and prosperity they
had built. To this day, not one person has ever been held
accountable and not a single cent of reparations has been
paid to the survivors or the victims' descendants.
Without this necessary reckoning with the past, we're
already repeating it. As Oklahoma and many around the world
are preparing to mark the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race
Massacre, last month, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a
law criminalizing peaceful protesters and giving immunity to
drivers who ``unintentionally'' kill or injure protesters.
This law is, according to the count kept by the International
Center for Not-For-Profit Law, just one of 81 anti-protest
bills introduced in 34 states during the 2021 legislative
session alone--most of them framed as a response to last
summer's Black Lives Matter protests. But instead of tackling
the root causes of these nationwide protests against police
brutality, racism and anti-Blackness, many lawmakers are
attempting to intimidate, malign and criminalize peaceful
protesters.
Laws like this one will undoubtedly have painful and long-
lasting consequences in Oklahoma and the rest of the nation.
Black, brown and Indigenous people will surely be locked up,
ripped apart from their families, and may lose their jobs for
exercising their First Amendment right to peacefully assemble
in a protest. They will surely receive harsher punishments
for protesting police brutality and racial injustice than,
for instance, White protesters demonstrating for gun rights
or for their desire to control a woman's body.
This isn't the only bill introduced in Oklahoma this
session that's followed the Tulsa Race Massacre's sinister
legacy of suppression and erasure of Black Oklahomans. Half a
dozen bills have already been introduced to restrict absentee
voting and require identification to vote, echoing the
growing trend of voting restrictions around the country.
Historically in our state as elsewhere, these tactics have
been used to disenfranchise Black and brown, poor and older
communities and people with disabilities, with the precedent
being set in one state and spreading like wildfire to the
rest of the country.
On May 7, Governor Stitt signed HB 1775 into law, which
will prohibit Oklahoma schools from teaching critical race
theory--or in other words important lessons about systemic
racism and diversity. The measure is meant to essentially
stifle important discussions about, among other things, the
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the Trail of Tears and the Osage
murders in classrooms and beyond. Erasing our history, yet
again, will have devastating consequences. And Oklahoma isn't
alone--bills banning or restricting the teaching of critical
race theory have been drafted in Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri,
New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and West Virginia and
already passed in Utah, Arkansas, Idaho and Tennessee.
Bills like HB 1775 attempt to obscure the fact that heinous
instances of racial violence, from slavery to Jim Crow laws
to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, are not blemishes on our
history but consequences of discriminatory systems that
continue to harm Black people today.
Such laws are designed to prevent a full and honest
accounting of how systemic racism works. The bill says it
will prohibit the teaching that ``an individual, by virtue of
his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions
committed in the past by other members of the same race or
sex,'' thereby upholding White supremacy and helping absolve
the city of Tulsa and the state of the moral obligation of
paying reparations to the survivors and descendants of the
Tulsa Race Massacre. HB 1775 also flies in the face of
reality--as if the wealth and security stripped from Black
Tulsans a century ago doesn't have a direct relationship to
the widening gaps in home ownership, education, life
expectancy and arrest rates today.
Each of us should learn the hard lessons of the 1921 Tulsa
Race Massacre and the continued harm shouldered by the
survivors, the descendants and the neighborhood of Greenwood.
We should learn that race, racism and discrimination have
very real, concrete effects on our history, our culture, our
politics and our current lives. But we can't learn the truth
or grow from it if it's hidden from us--and that's precisely
what HB 1775 attempts
to do. In so doing, this measure continues the harm of the
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, because a century later, Stitt and
our elected officials are still trying to bury the lessons
that our ancestors would want us to carry forward.
As a descendant of a Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, it's
painful to see Oklahoma's governor refuse to learn from our
history and acknowledge its continuing impact today. Instead,
he's chosen to saddle our teachers and educators with even
more baggage, and potentially penalize them for doing what's
right.
My hope is that our teachers will look this evil in the eye
and refuse to give in or back down. I hope they will continue
teaching the truth about topics like the 1921 Tulsa Race
Massacre--including that it was borne from White supremacy, a
mortal threat to our democracy that remains with us today.
Our students deserve the unbridled truth, not a polished
facade that makes us feel good about ourselves.
Madam Speaker, I include the KJRH article in the Record.
[From KJRH]
Gov. Stitt Responds to Letter From Tulsa Race Massacre Commission
Tulsa, OK, May 14, 2021.--Gov. Kevin Stitt has officially
been removed from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial
Commission.
This comes after Stitt signed a bill limiting race and
gender curriculums in Oklahoma schools earlier in May. House
Bill 1775 prohibits state public schools, colleges, and
universities from incorporating certain messages about sex
and race into any course instruction.
This also comes on the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa
race massacre, where a white mob attacked Black residents and
businesses in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, also known as
Black Wall Street.
The governor's office released the following statement
Friday afternoon:
``Governor Stitt's role as a member of the 1921 Tulsa Race
Massacre Centennial Commission has been purely ceremonial and
he had not been invited to attend a meeting until this week.
It is disappointing to see an organization of such importance
spend so much effort to sow division based on falsehoods and
political rhetoric two weeks before the centennial and a
month before the commission is scheduled to sunset. The
governor and first lady will continue to support the
revitalization of the Greenwood District, honest
conversations about racial reconciliation and pathways of
hope in Oklahoma.''
The commission sent 2 News the following statement:
``The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commissioners met
Tuesday and agreed through consensus to part ways with
Governor Stitt. No elected officials, nor representatives of
elected officials, were involved in this decision. While the
Commission is disheartened to part ways with Governor Stitt,
we are thankful for the things accomplished together. The
Commission remains focused on lifting up the story of Black
Wall Street and commemorating the Centennial. With just weeks
before the Centennial of one of the worst Race massacres in
the history of the U.S., Commissioners stand united in
focusing time, energy and efforts on descendants, survivors,
education, economic development and progress this year and
beyond. We hope to see many of you in person or virtually at
some of our events that we hope will drive change for years
to come.''
The commission previously issued Stitt a letter after he
did not join a special meeting Monday night to discuss the
signing of HB 1775 into law.
Phil Armstrong, the project director of the 1921 Tulsa Race
Massacre Centennial Commission, said HB 1775 ``chills the
ability of educators to teach students, of any age, and will
only serve to intimidate educators who seek to reveal and
process our hidden history. You know that. We delivered this
message to you before you signed the measure. We were joined
by educators, school boards, universities, faith, and
community leaders, all of whom vigorously objected to HB
1775. You seemingly disregarded and dismissed this chorus of
voices aligned against HB 1775.''
The governor responded by saying, in part, ``it is
disappointing that some commission members feel that a
common-sense law preventing students from being taught that
one race or sex is superior to another is contrary to the
mission of reconciliation and restoration.''
C.J. Webber-Neal, president of the Greenwood Arts &
Cultural Society, INC., also called for the governor's
resignation as a commission member. In a statement, Webber-
Neal said he was satisfied with having Stitt removed from the
commission.
``The Greenwood Arts & Cultural Society, INC. is very
pleased that the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial
Commission has with one concise voice taken action to remove
Kevin Stitt, Governor of Oklahoma, from it body.
Based upon the stated mission of this body, we stand in
solidarity with their action regarding Governor Stitt's role
as a member of this Commission, based upon his signing of HB
1775 into law. The truth of the horrific story of 1921's Race
Massacre (as well as other history of the experiences of
minorities in America) must be taught honestly and
unequivocally, so that future generations will learn of the
demons of our past so we as a society will not be doomed to
repeat this evil act.
At this time, we also encourage this body to add in the
Governor's place survivors and descendants of the massacre,
so that representation of this painful period in our history
can be reflected thru the experiences of those who were
directly impacted by this tragic event.
Furthermore, we encourage any available monetary relief be
given by this organization to the three survivors of the 1921
Tulsa Race Massacre. This should be done as both a sign of
reconciliation and the rising of the eternal spirit of
Greenwood. This we believe is long overdue.''
Madam Speaker, I include a detailed account of the Tulsa Race Massacre in the Congressional Record.
Detailed Account of Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
Then I want to salute those who will be honoring 100 years in the next couple of weeks. I want to very quickly say that remember what I said, I knew the history of Christopher Columbus. I didn't know the history of my Native American brothers. I didn't know the history of my own self, slavery. I know Big Mother, which is what we called her. She owned land, and then I knew it disappeared. I knew I rode in the back of a train to visit her as a little girl.
Guess what, Madam Speaker?
Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma was on the commission on the Tulsa race massacre, but he signed the bill limiting race and gender curriculums in Oklahoma schools earlier in May.
Madam Speaker, can you believe it?
It was House bill 1775. As well, he goes on to not stand for what this commission is all about: truth.
So tonight we come to the floor. Remember what I said: I am not in any way throwing darts or stones at anyone. I am here to raise up the dignity of this man, this person, this body, burned because he was Black, prosperous, and ready to serve America.
No one can tell me how many in that 1921 massacre had been in World War I, had worn the uniform and come home and made a new life.
How many can tell us out of those who would have lived, would have been ready to go serve in World War II and then on, and their progeny continue to build this wonderful economic engine?
Today those who remain are three living descendants of those who were there. They tell me as I will go to Tulsa, there is one door left.
It is a crying shame. So I lift this story up, and I let you know, Madam Speaker, that the Congressional Black Caucus, yes, the conscience of this Nation, has a vital purpose to be able to tell the story. Someone I hope is listening. Someone I hope is listening. Someone I hope heard Brother Torres. I hope they heard Hank Johnson and Barbara Lee. I hope they have heard all of us. Because if we do not know our history, we are doomed to repeat it. We must take the reins, lift up the dignity, honor these courageous saints, and we must fight on.
Pass this resolution on the centennial. Pass H.R. 40 to establish a commission to study reparations. Pass the American Jobs Plan, pass the American Rescue Plan, and lift all boats. For as we do so, God will be the witness for what we have done and the journey we have made.
Madam Speaker, I am honored to have been here today. I am honored to be part of the Congressional Black Caucus. I am honored to be part of this House of Representatives. I am honored to be an American, and I will not have my history denied or my children failing to know that history. That is why we are here today. Let us march on until victory is won.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, I rise to anchor this most important Special Order remembering one of the darkest moments in American history, the Tulsa-Greenwood Race Massacre, that occurred in the African American Greenwood community of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 31-June 1, 1921.
I am pleased to be joined by Congressman Torres of New York, who will co-anchor this Special Order and my several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which under the leadership of our Chair, Congresswoman Beatty of Ohio, was unified and determined that the reign of racial terror, carried out under color of law, that was visited on the black citizens of Greenwood not be forgotten and that the injuries they suffered be redressed.
Madam Speaker, earlier this year, I introduced a resolution (H. Res. 215 later modified as H. Res. 398), joined by 84 cosponsors, recognizing the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
As the great southern writer William Faulkner reminded us: ``The past is never dead. It's not even past.''
Madam Speaker, as I and other Members will elucidate this evening, the hatreds, prejudices, resentments, and white supremacy that Black Americans witnessed and suffered in Greenwood a century ago are not dead; they are not even past.
A century ago, White rioters, local law enforcement, and self- appointed vigilantes claimed to be acting reasonably and in self- defense against what they feared was an upcoming Black uprising.
They resented the economic prosperity and self-sufficiency of the Greenwood community, which was known nationally as ``Black Wall Street.''
They viewed Black males as fearsome physical threats to their personal safety and as rivals to white women.
These baseless, irrational concerns are not a relic of the past, they are with us today and are what resulted in the deaths of George Floyd, Tamir Rice, Deonte Wright, Stephon Clark, Amidou Diallo, and hundreds of others too numerous to list.
In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood District, known as ``Black Wall Street,'' was one of the most documented prosperous African American communities in the United States.
The Greenwood community with a population of over 100,000 Black people had stores that sold luxury items, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores, a hospital, a savings and loan bank, a post office, three hotels, jewelry and clothing stores, two movie theaters, a library, pool halls, a bus and cab service, a nationally recognized school system, six private airplanes, and two black newspapers.
On May 31st of that year, the 35 city blocks of Greenwood went up in flames, at least 300 Black persons were murdered and more than 800 were injured; it is estimated that not less than 9,000 were left homeless and destitute.
These rioters reenacted the brutality of the mob from a hundred years ago in the hallowed halls of the Citadel of Democracy.
It should not be overlooked that the source of their irrational anger, hatred, and violent reaction was that Black Americans voted in overwhelming numbers in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit to oust the most negative, divisive, racially hostile, and incompetent president's history, the 45th President,
who presided over the deaths of more than 500,000 Americans, disproportionately Black and Brown.
The legacy of white mob violence inflicted upon the Black community of Greenwood has scarred the descendants of the victims of this American pogrom.
Madam Speaker, the events of January 6th have given us insight into what the people of Greenwood, Oklahoma, faced when they were attacked by a similar murderous mob.
H.R. 398 is a reminder to the nation of the ultimate cruelty inflicted upon a people for dare believing that the promise of America was attainable by them and their achievements would be respected and protected by law.
But it does more than that, it puts the House of Representatives on record that the United States can achieve a more perfect union:
1. by condemning the violence and destruction perpetrated against the African-American community of Greenwood, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the scene of the then-largest single instance of domestic terror against American citizens;
2. through the rejection and active opposition to the false ideology of White supremacy and condemnation of all groups and organizations that ascribe to this false system of belief and seek to perpetuate their views through violence and unlawful conduct;
3. by promoting tolerance and unity and taking actions to ensure that governmental policies and actions do not foster division, disharmony, or intolerance;
4. by calling upon all Americans to celebrate the ethnic, racial, and religious diversity that has made the United States the leader of the community of nations and the beacon of hope and inspiration to oppressed persons everywhere;
5. encouraging all persons in the United States to reflect upon the history of the United States as an imperfect but committed journey to establish a more perfect union and to cherish and exercise the rights, privileges, and responsibilities guaranteed by the Constitution; and
6. recognizing the commitment of Congress to acknowledge and learn from the history of racism and racial violence in the United States, including the Tulsa Race Massacre, to reverse the legacy of White supremacy and fight for racial justice.
Madam Speaker, I will now briefly recount the horrific events cited in H. Res. 398 that were experienced by the law-abiding Black community of Greenwood on those terrible days.
In 1921, White supremacy and racist violence were common throughout the United States and went largely unchecked by the justice system.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, reports of an alleged and disputed incident on the morning of May 30, 1921, between two teenagers, a Black man and a White woman, caused the White community of Tulsa, including the Tulsa Tribune, to call for a lynching amidst a climate of White racial hostility and White resentment over Black economic success.
On May 31, 1921, a mob of armed White men descended upon Tulsa's Greenwood District and launched what is now known as the ``Tulsa Race Massacre.''
Tulsa municipal and county authorities failed to take actions to calm or contain the violence, and civil and law enforcement officials deputized many White men who were participants in the violence as their agents, directly contributing to the violence through overt and often illegal acts.
Over a period of 24 hours, the White mob's violence led to the death of an estimated 300 Black residents, as well as over 800 reports of injuries.
The White mob looted, damaged, burned, or otherwise destroyed approximately 40 square blocks of the Greenwood district, including an estimated 1,256 homes of Black residents, as well as virtually every other structure, including churches, schools, businesses, a hospital, and a library, leaving nearly 9,000 Black residents of the Greenwood community homeless and effectively wiping out tens of millions of dollars in Black prosperity and wealth.
In the wake of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Governor of Oklahoma declared martial law, and units of the Oklahoma National Guard participated in the mass arrests of all or nearly all of Greenwood's surviving residents, removing them from Greenwood to other parts of Tulsa and unlawfully detaining them in holding centers.
Oklahoma local and state governments dismissed claims arising from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for decades, and the event was effectively erased from collective memory and history until, in 1997, the Oklahoma State Legislature finally created a commission to study the event.
On February 28, 2001, the commission issued a report that detailed, for the first time, the extent of the Massacre and decades-long efforts to suppress its recollection.
None of the law enforcement officials nor any of the hundreds of other White mob members who participated in the violence were ever prosecuted or held accountable for the hundreds of lives lost and tens of millions of dollars of Black wealth destroyed, despite the Tulsa Race Massacre Commission confirming their roles in the Massacre, nor was any compensation ever provided to the Massacre's victims or their descendants.
Government and city officials not only abdicated their responsibility to rebuild and repair the Greenwood community in the wake of the violence, but actively blocked efforts to do so, contributing to continued racial disparities in Tulsa akin to those that Black people still face today across the United States.
Madam Speaker, the pattern of violence against Black people in the United States, often at the hands of law enforcement, shows that the fight to end State-sanctioned violence against Black people continues.
As the American Historical Association stated, ``What happened in Tulsa was extreme, but not unusual. It is part of our nation's heritage. We must acknowledge that heritage, learn from it, and do whatever each of us can do to ensure that it is just that--heritage, rather than a continuing practice.''
Madam Speaker, I will include in the Record a more detailed account of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that is based on the ``Final Report of the Oklahoma Commission to Study The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921,'' issued February 28, 2001.
Madam Speaker, I also ask the House to observe a moment of silence in memory of the victims and survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, and their descendants to carry the terrible memories of that horrific day and still grieve over the loss of so many loved ones and of faith in the American system of justice.
