Tulsa-Greenwood Massacre Claims Accountability Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3466 To provide a remedy for survivors and descendants of the victims of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Massacre of 1921. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 21, 2021 Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. BROWN, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. CARSON, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. WIL- SON of Florida, and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide a remedy for survivors and descendants of the victims of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Massacre of 1921. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tulsa-Greenwood Mas- 4 sacre Claims Accountability Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress makes the following findings: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3466.IH H3466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3466 IH (1) In 1921, Greenwood (a community in 1 Tulsa, Oklahoma) was one of the most prosperous 2 African-American communities in the United States. 3 At the time, an estimated 11,000 African Americans 4 lived in Greenwood, and its commercial district was 5 known nationally as the ‘‘Black Wall Street’’. The 6 community boasted two newspapers, over a dozen 7 churches, and hundreds of African-American-owned 8 businesses. 9 (2) On the evening of May 31, 1921, the Afri- 10 can-American Greenwood community of Tulsa, Okla- 11 homa was ravaged by a White mob, some of whom 12 were deputized and armed by law enforcement. By 13 the conclusion of the massacre at midday, June 1, 14 virtually every building in a 42-square-block area of 15 the community—homes, schools, churches, and busi- 16 nesses—was burned to the ground and thousands 17 were left homeless. Over 1,200 homes were de- 18 stroyed. Every church, school, and business in 19 Greenwood was set on fire. Approximately 8,000 Af- 20 rican Americans were left homeless and penniless. 21 Unable to rebuild, thousands of residents spent the 22 winter of 1921 to 1922 in tents. 23 (3) Credible evidence supports the belief that 24 approximately 300 African Americans were killed 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3466.IH H3466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3466 IH during the massacre, but the exact death toll re- 1 mains unknown. 2 (4) In the wake of the destruction, a State-con- 3 vened grand jury officially placed responsibility for 4 the violence on the African-American community, ex- 5 onerating Whites of all responsibility. No one was 6 ever prosecuted or punished for the violent criminal 7 acts. 8 (5) None of the nearly 200 contemporaneously 9 filed lawsuits by residents and property owners in 10 Greenwood were successful in recovering damages 11 from insurance companies to assist in the recon- 12 struction of the community. After the city attempted 13 to block their redevelopment efforts, victims were 14 forced to rebuild with their own resources or aban- 15 don the community. 16 (6) State and local governments suppressed or 17 ignored issues and claims arising from the 1921 18 massacre, effectively excising it from collective mem- 19 ory, until the Oklahoma Legislature created a com- 20 mission to study the event in 1997. The commis- 21 sion’s February 28, 2001, report uncovered new in- 22 formation and detailed, for the first time, the extent 23 of involvement by the State and city government in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3466.IH H3466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3466 IH prosecuting and erasing evidence of the massacre 1 (Okla. Stat. Tit. 74 Section 8000.1 (West 2005)). 2 (7) The documentation assembled by the ‘‘1921 3 Tulsa Race Riot Commission’’ provides strong evi- 4 dence that some local municipal and county officials 5 failed to take actions to calm or contain the situa- 6 tion once violence erupted and, in some cases, be- 7 came participants in the subsequent violence, and 8 even deputized and armed many Whites who were 9 part of a mob that killed, looted, and burned down 10 the Greenwood area. 11 (8) Based on information contained in the re- 12 port, the Greenwood claimants filed suit, pursuant 13 to the laws codified in sections 1981, 1983, and 14 1985 of title 42 of the United States Code and the 15 14th Amendment, seeking damages for the injuries 16 sustained in the massacre as a result of the govern- 17 ment’s involvement. Their claims were dismissed as 18 time barred by the court, and so were not deter- 19 mined on the merits (382 F.3d 1206 (10th Cir. 20 2004), rehrg en banc denied (with dissent), 391 21 F.3d (10th Cir. 2004), cert denied Alexander v. 22 State of Oklahoma, 544 U.S. 1044 (2005)). 23 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 24 The purposes of this Act are the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3466.IH H3466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3466 IH (1) To ensure that laws governing claims made 1 in connection with the Tulsa, Oklahoma race mas- 2 sacre of 1921 and its aftermath further the United 3 States policy of providing compensation to any 4 Greenwood race massacre victim, who was physically 5 injured or killed or who had their property destroyed 6 or taken as a result of the actions of the individuals 7 acting under color of State, county, or municipal au- 8 thorization, their heirs, and beneficiaries. 9 (2) To ensure that claims made in connection 10 with the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre of 1921 11 and its aftermath are not unfairly barred by statutes 12 of limitations or laches or other similar provision of 13 any applicable law relating to the timeliness of the 14 filing of claims that might prevent a claim from 15 being heard on its merits, or any notice require- 16 ments imposed by State law, but are resolved in a 17 just and fair manner. 18 SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Every person who, in connection 20 with the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre of 1921 and its 21 aftermath, acted under color of any statute, ordinance, 22 regulation, custom, or usage of the State of Oklahoma or 23 the city of Tulsa to subject, or cause to be subjected, any 24 Greenwood race massacre victim to the deprivation, on ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3466.IH H3466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3466 IH count of race, of any right secured at the time of the depri- 1 vation by the United States Constitution, shall be liable 2 to the Greenwood race massacre victim, or their heir or 3 beneficiary, in a civil action for redress. 4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 5 (1) The term ‘‘Greenwood race massacre vic- 6 tim’’ means any person that was physically injured 7 or killed or had their property destroyed or taken as 8 a result of the actions of a person acting under color 9 of State, county, or municipal authorization during 10 or in the aftermath of the Tulsa race massacre of 11 1921. 12 (2) The term ‘‘person’’ has the meaning given 13 such term in section 1 of title 1, United States 14 Code. 15 (3) The term ‘‘redress’’ includes, for any resid- 16 ual fund created by litigation under this Act, the ap- 17 pointment of a special master to create and admin- 18 ister a compensation program, in consultation with 19 the prevailing class of litigants, to make grants to or 20 enter into contracts with any community-based orga- 21 nization, network, or coalition of community-based 22 organizations to promote the health, safety, and wel- 23 fare of that class. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3466.IH H3466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3466 IH SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION. 1 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a Green- 2 wood race massacre victim, or their heir or beneficiary, 3 who previously brought an action under section 1979 of 4 the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 5 1983) that was dismissed because the statute of limita- 6 tions is not precluded from bringing an action under this 7 Act. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3466.IH H3466 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS