- Originally published on 2/13/04 in the LA Times [here]
A lawsuit for damages from Oklahoma and Tulsa may set the tone for a national campaign.
On February 13, 2004, 100 survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riots and
300 of their descendants will have their day in court and chance to
make their case for reparations, eight decades after a white mob tore
into a thriving black
neighborhood, leaving as many as 300 dead. A summary judgment
hearing on the
City of Tulsa and State of Oklahoma's defenses in Alexander et al. v.
State of Oklahoma will
provide victims their first opportunity to argue that the city and
state should
proceed to trial. The lawsuit is based, in part, on a 2001 report by
the Oklahoma Race Riot
Commission
which uncovered that the government was complicit in
the
race riot. A team of law professors and lawyers
including
Charles Ogletree of Harvard and Michael D. Hausfeld, a
partner
with Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C.,
accuse
the city and state of participating in a
"conspiracy
of silence" and seek reparations for the death of
family
members and the loss of homes and businesses.
Excerpt
A dwindling number of race-riot survivors -- some
more
than 100 years old -- will finally have a chance to
make
their case for reparations, eight decades after a
white
mob tore into a thriving black neighborhood, leaving
as
many as 300 people dead.
At a federal courthouse here this morning, lawyers
representing
more than 100 survivors and 300 descendants of victims
are
scheduled to have their first opportunity to argue
that
their lawsuit seeking damages from the city and state
should
proceed to trial. The city and state have asked Senior
U.S.
District Judge James Ellison to dismiss the suit.
Advocates on both sides see the case as a bellwether
in
the national campaign to secure reparations for
descendants
of slaves. Civil rights leaders believe it could shape
the
reparation movement's legal strategy and help persuade
the
public that society bears some responsibility for
centuries-old
offenses.
Thursday night, in anticipation of today's hearing,
more
than 250 people of various races held a vigil. One
woman
held a hand-painted sign that read,
"Tulsa: Two Cities."
The Rev. Milford Carter, one of the city's religious
leaders,
told the crowd that Tulsa had been "stunted"
by
a legacy of racism.
"God loves justice and he loves justice
now,"
he said. "From this day forward, an action begins
that
will not stop until it finds ultimate commitment. "
The vigil was held at Greenwood Cultural Center in
north
Tulsa, not far from where the violence erupted May 31,
1921.
That day, a local newspaper carried a young white
woman's
allegation that she had been assaulted by a black
teenager.
A white lynch mob walked to the jail where the teen
was
being held and was met by a group of blacks. A shot
rang
out, and the riot began.
Thousands of whites descended on the nearby
community
of Greenwood, a bustling black neighborhood that
included
a business district known across the South as
"Black
Wall Street" because of its enterprise and success.
By the next afternoon, as many as 300 people, mostly blacks, were dead.
Thirty-five square blocks of Greenwood were reduced to ash and rubble.
More than 1,000 buildings, including churches and schools, were
destroyed.
A city investigation concluded that the riot was a "Negro uprising." No
one was ever prosecuted, nor were blacks compensated for the loss of
property. Authorities also never prosecuted the teenager on
the assault claims.