The state of Oklahoma has declined to discuss a settlement for the lawsuit filed by the last living survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, a move that’s not shocking to the attorney representing them.
“It’s no surprise that the state, which took part in a lawless massacre of American citizens, has refused to settle,” civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons told The Associated Press in a statement. “The survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre are heroes, and Oklahoma has had 102 years to do right by them.”
He continued: “The state’s efforts to gaslight the living survivors, whitewash history, and move the goal posts for everyone seeking justice in Oklahoma puts all of us in danger, and that is why we need the Oklahoma Supreme Court to apply the rule of law,” according to the outlet.
It comes days after the survivors’ appeal to the state supreme court was accepted for their lawsuit filed in 2020 against the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma Military Department, Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, among other entities. A District Court judge had dismissed it.
According to court records, it is seeking a “remedy” for the “ongoing nuisance” caused by the 1921 riot where a white mob ravaged the prosperous community in Tulsa known as Greenwood, or “Black Wall Street.”
Viola Fletcher, Lessie Benningfield Randle, and Hughes Van Ellis Sr. — all over 100 years old — have spoken out about how the incident still affects them decades later.
The supreme court will determine if the case will be returned to the district court to give the team another opportunity.
Assistant Attorney General Kevin McClure argued in the state’s response to the appeal that the survivor’s “allegations are premised on conflicting historical facts from over 100 years ago, wherein they have failed to properly allege how the Oklahoma Military Department created (or continues to be responsible for) an ongoing ‘public nuisance.”
Solomon-Simmons said the courts should decide what occurred and a way to remedy “the nuisance created when 40 blocks were burned to the ground, over 1,500 homes and businesses were destroyed and never rebuilt.”
“This destruction occurred due to crimes, destroying property and making it uninhabitable. That fits directly within the Oklahoma Public Nuisance statute that has been on the books for over 100 years,” he continued.
