Oldest Living Survivor Of Tulsa Massacre Stands Before Congress To Seek Justice

The oldest living survivor of the Tulsa massacre stood up in front of the House of Representatives to demand justice ahead of the 100th anniversary of the attack.

“I am here seeking justice,” Viola Fletcher, 107, said. “I am here asking my country to acknowledge what happened in Tulsa in 1921.”

Fletcher was just seven years old when a white mob attacked the “Black Wall Street” section of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on May 31 and June 1, 1921. More than 1,200 businesses, homes, and churches were burned, and an estimated 300 African Americans lost their lives that day.

Now, Fletcher and her 100-year-old brother are standing up and asking for reparations for the survivors and the descendants of the massacre, according to The Guardian. She spoke of the atrocities she saw that day and lamented that there has never been any compensation from the city or the state. And she noted that “racial disparities, compounded by gentrification and urban planning,” are still present today in the town. 

“I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street,” Fletcher said. “I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day.”

Fletcher asked the House for acknowledgment of the tragedy and to allow survivors the opportunity to seek justice. Fletcher’s testimony was followed by her brother, World War II veteran Hughes Van Ellis, and a third survivor, Lessie Evelyn Benningfield Randle, now 106-years-old.

“It means a lot to me to finally be able to look at you all in the eye and ask you to do the right thing. I have waited so long for justice,” Benningfield Randle said.