Last remaining Tulsa Race Massacre survivors argue for appeal in reparations lawsuit dismissal

Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Ford Fletcher, both 109 years old, went to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon to appeal the dismissal of their lawsuit against the City of Tulsa for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. “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,” Randle and Fletcher, the last survivors of the incident, said in a joint statement Tuesday. “Many have come before us who have knocked and banged on the courthouse doors only to be turned around or never let through the door.” The lawsuit, filed against the city, seeks reparations for Randle and Fletcher for injury, public nuisance and unjust enrichment others have gained from exploiting the massacre, according to court documents. Lawyers for the victims and their families are making the legal argument that there is an ongoing “public nuisance” in the Greenwood community that started because of the massacre more than 100 years ago. During Tuesday’s hearing, lawyers for city officials argued that the state’s top court should end the case because they say the survivors haven’t shown that there...