A resolution recognizing the 102nd anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 230 Recognizing the 102nd anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 31 (legislative day, MAY 30), 2023 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. SMITH, Mr. CASEY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. BOOK- ER, and Mr. WARNER) submitted the following resolution; which was re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary RESOLUTION Recognizing the 102nd anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Whereas, in the early 20th century, de jure segregation con- fined the Black residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma, into the ‘‘Greenwood District’’, which they built into a thriving community with a nationally renowned entrepreneurial center known as the ‘‘Black Wall Street’’; Whereas, at the time, White supremacy and racist violence were common throughout the United States and went largely unchecked by the justice system; Whereas reports of an alleged and disputed incident on the morning of May 30, 1921, between two teenagers, a VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR230.IS SR230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 230 IS Black man and a White woman, caused the White com- munity of Tulsa, including the Tulsa Tribune, to call for a lynching amidst a climate of White racial hostility and White resentment over Black economic success; Whereas, on May 31, 1921, a mob of armed White men de- scended on the Greenwood District in Tulsa and launched what is now known as the ‘‘Tulsa Race Massacre’’; Whereas Tulsa municipal and county authorities failed to take actions to calm or contain the violence, and civil and law enforcement officials deputized many White men who were participants in the violence as their agents, directly contributing to the violence through overt and often ille- gal acts; Whereas, over a period of 24 hours, the violence of the White mob led to the death of an estimated 300 Black resi- dents, and over 800 reports of injuries; Whereas the White mob looted, damaged, burned, or other- wise destroyed approximately 40 square blocks of the Greenwood District, including an estimated 1,256 homes of Black residents, and virtually every other structure, in- cluding churches, schools, businesses, a hospital, and a li- brary, leaving nearly 9,000 Black residents of Tulsa homeless and effectively wiping out tens of millions of dollars in Black prosperity and wealth in Tulsa; Whereas, in the wake of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Gov- ernor of Oklahoma declared martial law, and units of the Oklahoma National Guard participated in the mass ar- rests of all or nearly all of the surviving residents of Greenwood, removing them from Greenwood to other parts of Tulsa and unlawfully detaining them in holding centers; VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR230.IS SR230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 230 IS Whereas Oklahoma local and State governments dismissed claims arising from the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for decades, and the event was effectively erased from collec- tive memory and history until, in 1997, the Oklahoma State Legislature finally created a commission to study the event; Whereas, on February 28, 2001, the commission issued a re- port that detailed, for the first time, the extent of the Tulsa Race Massacre and decades-long efforts to sup- press its recollection; Whereas none of the law enforcement officials or any of the hundreds of other White mob members who participated in the violence were ever prosecuted or held accountable for the hundreds of lives lost and tens of millions of dol- lars of Black wealth destroyed, despite the Tulsa Race Massacre Commission confirming their roles in the Tulsa Race Massacre, nor was any compensation ever provided to the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre or their de- scendants; Whereas State government and city officials not only abdi- cated their responsibility to rebuild and repair the Green- wood community in the wake of the violence, but actively blocked efforts to do so, contributing to continued racial disparities in Tulsa akin to those that Black people face across the United States; Whereas the pattern of violence against Black people in the United States, often at the hands of law enforcement, shows that the fight to end State-sanctioned violence against Black people continues; and Whereas this year marks the 102nd anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre: Now, therefore, be it VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR230.IS SR230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 230 IS Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) recognizes the 102nd anniversary of the 2 Tulsa Race Massacre; 3 (2) acknowledges the historical significance of 4 this event as one of the largest single instances of 5 State-sanctioned violence against Black people in the 6 history of the United States; 7 (3) honors the lives and legacies of the esti- 8 mated 300 Black individuals who were killed during 9 the Tulsa Race Massacre and the nearly 9,000 10 Black individuals who were left homeless and penni- 11 less; 12 (4) condemns the participants of the Tulsa 13 Race Massacre, including the White municipal offi- 14 cials and law enforcement who directly participated 15 in or who aided and abetted the unlawful violence; 16 (5) condemns past and present efforts to cover 17 up the truth and shield the White community, and 18 especially State and local officials, from account- 19 ability for the Tulsa Race Massacre and other in- 20 stances of violence at the hands of law enforcement; 21 (6) condemns the continued legacy of racism, 22 including systemic racism, and White supremacy 23 against Black people in the United States, particu- 24 larly in the form of police brutality; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR230.IS SR230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 230 IS (7) encourages education about the Tulsa Race 1 Massacre, including the horrors of the massacre 2 itself, the history of White supremacy that fueled the 3 massacre, and subsequent attempts to deny or cover 4 up the Tulsa Race Massacre, in all elementary and 5 secondary education settings and in institutions of 6 higher education in the United States; and 7 (8) recognizes the commitment of Congress to 8 acknowledge and learn from the history of racism 9 and racial violence in the United States, including 10 the Tulsa Race Massacre, to reverse the legacy of 11 White supremacy and fight for racial justice. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR230.IS SR230 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS