105-year-old woman is suing Tulsa for the Black Wall Street massacre

Lessie Benningfield Randle, one of two known survivors of the Tulsa massacre that is still alive, has filed a lawsuit demanding reparations.

Tulsa massacre survivor sues

The 105-year-old alleges that the act of racial violence is still haunting the community after almost 100 years.

Randle leads the lawsuit claiming she still experiences evocative flashbacks of the burning streets filled with stacked up bodies, according to her attorneys.

1921 Tulsa race massacre

As a child, Randle witnessed the race massacre that occurred on May 31 and June 1, 1921.

Around 300 Black people were killed by a white mob, allegedly backed by local authorities and police.

Hundreds of homes and businesses were looted, and Tulsa’s thriving Greenwood district was torched.

The great-granddaughter of JB Stradford, who owned the Stradford Hotel which is the largest black-owned hotel in the US at that time, is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Tulsa massacre survivor lawsuit

The lawsuit accuses the city of Tulsa, Tulsa County, the then serving sheriff of Tulsa County, the Oklahoma national guard, and Tulsa regional chamber of being directly involved in the massacre and having “unjustly enriched themselves at the expense of the black citizens of Tulsa and the survivors and descendants of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.”

Damario Solomon-Simmons, who is part of a team of attorneys who filed the lawsuit, said that the events in 1921 served as a factor in the problems Black people in Tulsa face.

In Tulsa, 34% of black people live in poverty, in comparison to 13% of white people, according to Human Rights Watch.

The plaintiffs also argue the effects of the massacre are still felt in the Greenwood district today. They say unemployment among Black Tulsans is more than double that of white people in the city and that the median household income for Black residents is $20,000 less than their white counterparts.

Survivors fight for benefits

For decades, the survivors of the massacre fought for justice.

In a 2001 report, evidence found that the city indeed conspired with white citizens against Black residents.

Direct payments to survivors and descendants were then suggested but no payments were ever made and they were only given a medal by the city.

“For a long time, the word ‘reparations’ was a non-starter, but it is finally losing its taboo,” Damario Solomon-Simmons, said in a recent Los Angeles Times op-ed.

“The urgency of the protests across America shows that reforms won’t last unless we pay for the crimes of the past.”

While no specific damage amount was sought in the court filing, the suit estimates just the property damage suffered by residents of the Greenwood district is between $50 million and $100 million in today’s currency.

Photo: Lessie Benningfield Randle (Tulsa Race Massacre Survivor) (Photo: Justice for Greenwood)