109-Year-Old Survivors of Tulsa Race Massacre Appeal to Oklahoma Supreme Court in Reparations Case

The last two survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre appeared at Oklahoma’s Supreme Court this week in a bid to revive their reparations lawsuit. An estimated 300 Black people were killed when a white mob burned down what was known as “Black Wall Street,” the thriving African American neighborhood of Greenwood. Viola Fletcher and Lessie Benningfield Randle are now both 109. In a statement, the two women said, “We are grateful that our now-weary bodies have held on long enough to witness an America, and an Oklahoma, that provides Race Massacre survivors with the opportunity to access the legal system. … The Oklahoma Supreme Court has the power to open the doors of justice.” Topics: Oklahoma Race in America African-American History Tulsa Massacre