On May 31, 1921, white attackers destroyed Greenwood, a thriving Black business district in Tulsa, Oklahoma, killing hundreds of residents (most of whom were Black) and burning more than 1,250 homes.
Small Town Horror Story: The Lynching of James Byrd
Small Town Horror Story: The Lynching of James Byrd
For decades, the families of those whose lives and livelihoods in an area once known as “Black Wall Street” were destroyed have been trying to seek justice for what they lost, only to have their cases dismissed in court.
Now, more than 100 years after the devastating Tulsa Race Massacre, the Justice Department is getting involved for the first time. They are moving forward to seek justice for the families, empowered by the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, which authorizes the Department, along with the FBI, to look into “violations of criminal civil rights statutes… result[ing] in death,” that occurred on or before December 31, 1979.
The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act was introduced on February 8, …