Tulsa Race Massacre survivors will appeal a judge's ruling to dismiss their lawsuit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court
The last three known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre are planning to appeal a judge’s recent ruling with the local supreme court.
On Monday (July 10), the attorney for Lessie Benningfield Randle, 108; Viola Fletcher, 109; and her brother, Hughes Van Ellis, 102, spoke on behalf of his clients in a news conference. CNN reported the trio has been in a yearslong legal battle with several officials, including the city of Tulsa.
In court, the survivors argued that opportunities were stripped from them when the city’s Greenwood neighborhood, known as “Black Wall Street,” was burned down by a white mob in 1921. Hundreds were killed on the day of that violent attack, and years of building successful Black businesses were erased. However, despite hearing Randle, Fletcher, and Ellis’ stories, Judge Caroline Wall dismissed their lawsuit for reparations on Friday (July 7).
“We were forced to plead this case beyond what is required under Oklahoma standards, which is certainly a familiar circumstance when Black Americans ask the American legal system to work for them. And now, Judge Wall has condemned us to languish on Oklahoma’s appellate docket,” a statement read by attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons said. “Like so many Black Americans, we carry the weight of intergenerational racial trauma day in and day out. The dismissal of this case is just one more example of how America’s – and specifically Tulsa’s – legacy of racial harm, racial distress is disproportionally and unjustly borne by Black communities.”
During an interview with the outlet, Solomon-Simmons revealed he learned of the Wall’s decision on Friday night and was surprised. CNN noted that part of the shocking reaction to the ruling was because the judge who dismissed the lawsuit decided last year that the suit could move forward. “They’ve waited 102 years trying to get justice and reparations for themselves, their families, and our community here in Tulsa. And for me to get the phone call … I could not believe it. We were completely blown away,” the attorney added. “We will be moving forward with an appeal on this case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.”
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