Oklahoma Supreme Court dismisses Tulsa Race Massacre lawsuit

Tulsa Race Massacre survivors Viola Ford Fletcher (left) and Lessie Benningfield Randle appear on Thursday, Oct. 5 at the Oklahoma state Capitol. The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed their case alleging ongoing public nuisance and unjust enrichment on Wednesday. (Photo by Carmen Forman/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY – A case brought by survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was dismissed on Wednesday by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

The court issued an opinion concluding that while the grievances of the plaintiffs are legitimate, they do not fall within the scope of Oklahoma’s public nuisance statute or support claims of unjust enrichment.

According to the opinion, the “Plaintiffs’ claim that the lingering economic and social consequences of the Massacre … do not constitute a public nuisance, as that term has been construed by this Court.”

This decision upholds a previous decision issued July 7 by a Tulsa County judge. The district court judge determined the case failed to state a justifiable public nuisance claim.

The survivors, Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher and the late Hughes Van Ellis Sr., appealed the case, bringing it to the Oklahoma Supreme Court . Among the claims of the plaintiffs is that the defendants appropriated the name “Black Wall Street” to promote tourism in the city of Tulsa without returning benefits to the community.

Defendants in the case include the city of Tulsa, the Board of County Commissioners for Tulsa County, the Tulsa Regional Chamber and the Oklahoma Military Department.

Damario Solomon-Simmons, attorney of the plaintiffs, was not immediately available for comment.

The massacre occurred between May 31 and June 1, 1921. White mobs attacked, burned and destroyed 35 blocks of Black homes and businesses in the Greenwood district in Tulsa. The governor declared martial law and brought in the National Guard.

Officially, 36 Black residents were killed, though some estimates indicate up to 300 people died in the area known as Black Wall Street.

The Tulsa Race Massacre Commission, established by the state legislature in 1997 to investigate the massacre, reported in 2001 that no criminal acts were prosecuted by any level of government.

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