Posted on May 20, 2021
‘I hear the screams’: Survivors of 1921 Tulsa race massacre testify to Congress in call for...
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Moments after falling asleep on 31 May, 1921, seven-year-old Viola Fletcher was awakened by her family and told to leave her home in the Greenwood neighbourhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Outside, a white mob drove thousands of Black residents from their homes and businesses and killed as many as 300 people, one of the bloodiest episodes of racist violence in the US, one in which no one was ever charged with a crime.
Ms Fletcher, now 107 years old, and the last two other known survivors of the Tulsa race massacre – Hughes Van Ellis and Lessie Benningfield “Mother” Randle – testified to Congress on 19 May to address the massacre’s legacy of racism and call for justice for the families and communities in its shadow.
Outside, a white mob drove thousands of Black residents from their homes and businesses and killed as many as 300 people, one of the bloodiest episodes of racist violence in the US, one in which no one was ever charged with a crime.
Ms Fletcher, now 107 years old, and the last two other known survivors of the Tulsa race massacre – Hughes Van Ellis and Lessie Benningfield “Mother” Randle – testified to Congress on 19 May to address the massacre’s legacy of racism and call for justice for the families and communities in its shadow.
‘I hear the screams’: Survivors of 1921 Tulsa race massacre testify to Congress in call for...
Posted from independent.co.uk
Tulsa
Racism
American History
Congress
Rights
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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I grew up in Tulsa in the 1960s and 1970s. The public schools were segregated (separate but equal approach), as were most neighborhoods. One of 10 high schools had nearly 100% black students, Booker T. Washington. Tulsa University was not officially segregated, but there were very few people of color on campus when I attended. (Actually there were quite a few people from the middle east, we considered them all "Arabs", attending the School of Petroleum Engineering.) In high school and college I worked for a local convenience store chain. We had one store in downtown Tulsa that had a lot of non-white customers. It had been robbed at least 5 times in 2 years. Management put two people on every shift and one was always armed. I worked there once a week, 3-11 pm shift. The manager I worked with openly carried a sidearm.
My wife's Grandfather, born in 1898, told us about the race riots. He opened his version of the story with, "Here's something you won't hear in history class." We had passed Oklahoma history as a prerequisite from graduating High School. The 1921 riots weren't mentioned. He didn't tell or possibly know the entire story of the riots. He knew large numbers of "colored people" were killed in 1921 riots downtown and many bodies were dumped in the Red River, which flows through Tulsa. He said some white folks decided to "put those people in their place."
Because of this upbringing, I hadn't said more than a dozen words to a person of color until I entered the Air Force. We met our first Latin-American friends in pilot training, Jesus Tirado and his family.
Fortunately, the Air Force started Race Relations training about two years after I started Active Duty. I served with many great enlisted and officer personnel of all races over my 22 years of service. I learned to set aside my prejudices and judge people, in so far as I must, based on performance rather the race or sex.
My wife's Grandfather, born in 1898, told us about the race riots. He opened his version of the story with, "Here's something you won't hear in history class." We had passed Oklahoma history as a prerequisite from graduating High School. The 1921 riots weren't mentioned. He didn't tell or possibly know the entire story of the riots. He knew large numbers of "colored people" were killed in 1921 riots downtown and many bodies were dumped in the Red River, which flows through Tulsa. He said some white folks decided to "put those people in their place."
Because of this upbringing, I hadn't said more than a dozen words to a person of color until I entered the Air Force. We met our first Latin-American friends in pilot training, Jesus Tirado and his family.
Fortunately, the Air Force started Race Relations training about two years after I started Active Duty. I served with many great enlisted and officer personnel of all races over my 22 years of service. I learned to set aside my prejudices and judge people, in so far as I must, based on performance rather the race or sex.
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She was only 6 or 7 at the time if my math is correct. Now she's 107, I wonder how articulate and clear her memory will be from so long ago plus her age now.
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SFC Kelly Fuerhoff
Sounds pretty articulate and clear to me when I watched her testimony. That's something I guarantee no one forgets who lived through it.
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Patricia Overmeyer
SFC Kelly Fuerhoff - I watched her testimony as well...and wept. To have lived through that as a child, the memories and pain are never erased. These are things even those with dementia still remember vividly. No one seems to question WWII veterans who talk about what they saw and did during battle.
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