A motion to dismiss a case against Tulsa Regional Chamber and other entities brought by the three survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was heard at Tulsa County Courthouse on Tuesday.
There were so many people in attendance - many in purple Justice for Greenwood shirts - the hearing was delayed as a bigger courtroom was found. Once everyone was settled, Judge Caroline Wall said she knew the case was emotional and if spectators had to react they should step outside.
Though no one had to be excused, there was some head shaking in the gallery as Tulsa Chamber attorney John Tucker made his arguments. He said the plaintiffs lacked standing in the suit because they “did not suffer concrete, direct injury” as part of the massacre.
Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher, and Hughes Van Ellis were in attendance beside their attorneys. The three witnessed the 1921 massacre firsthand. Fletcher, 107, testified to Congress in May about the night she saw approximately 40 city blocks of Tulsa attacked by a white mob.
“I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire,” Fletcher told lawmakers.
Tucker also argued that since the crimes of the massacre were so long ago, the plaintiffs had to show special injury to overcome any statute of limitations. He said nothing the three survivors suffered “is unique to the plaintiffs.”
Attorney for the survivors Damario Solomon-Simmons countered the plaintiffs did suffer special injury, and that there is no “bright line” on what defines a special injury.
Solomon-Simmons classified the effects of the massacre as an ongoing nuisance.
“This nuisance started when they invaded Greenwood,” he said.
The continued efforts of officials to sequester Black Tulsans in north Tulsa is part of that ongoing nuisance, Solomon-Simmons said, as well as the 1967 fracturing of Greenwood by Interstate 244.
Solomon-Simmons is the founder of non-profit Justice for Greenwood. Its stated mission is to agitate for justice and reparations on behalf of massacre survivors and their descendants.
Judge Wall will soon rule whether to dismiss the case or send it to trial.