This resolution recognizes the forthcoming centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
The resolution, among other things
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1038 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1038
Recognizing the forthcoming centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 1, 2020
Ms. Jackson Lee (for herself, Ms. Kendra S. Horn of Oklahoma, Mr.
Lewis, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Ms. Adams, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Carson of
Indiana, Mr. Veasey, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Sewell of
Alabama, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Rush, Ms.
Johnson of Texas, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Clay, Ms. Moore, Mr. Welch, Ms. Clarke
of New York, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Haaland, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. DeGette, Mrs.
Hayes, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Norton, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mrs. Murphy of
Florida, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Evans, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Suozzi,
Mr. Deutch, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Clark of
Massachusetts, Mr. Richmond, Mrs. Fletcher, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr.
Huffman, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Mr. Payne, Mr. Nadler,
Ms. Escobar, Mr. Lowenthal, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Johnson
of Georgia, Mr. Gonzalez of Texas, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Ruppersberger,
Mrs. Luria, Ms. Porter, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Grijalva, Ms.
Omar, Ms. Spanberger, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Meng, Mr.
Cardenas, Mr. Gomez, Ms. Plaskett, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Allred, Ms. Wexton,
Mr. Trone, Ms. Lofgren, and Ms. Garcia of Texas) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the forthcoming centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Whereas, in the early 20th century, de jure segregation confined Tulsa's Black
residents into the ``Greenwood District'', which they built into a
thriving community with a nationally renowned entrepreneurial center
known as the ``Black Wall Street'';
Whereas, at the time, White supremacy and racist violence were common throughout
the United States and went largely unchecked by the justice system;
Whereas reports of an alleged and disputed incident on the morning of May 30,
1921, between two teenagers, a Black man and a White woman, caused the
White community of Tulsa, including the Tulsa Tribune, to call for a
lynching amidst a climate of White racial hostility and White resentment
over Black economic success;
Whereas, on May 31, 1921, a mob of armed White men descended upon Tulsa's
Greenwood District and launched what is now known as the ``Tulsa Race
Massacre'';
Whereas Tulsa municipal and county authorities failed to take actions to calm or
contain the violence, and civil and law enforcement officials deputized
many White men who were participants in the violence as their agents,
directly contributing to the violence through overt and often illegal
acts;
Whereas, over a period of 24 hours, the White mob's violence led to the death of
an estimated 300 Black residents, as well as over 800 reports of
injuries;
Whereas the White mob looted, damaged, burned, or otherwise destroyed
approximately 40 square blocks of the Greenwood district, including an
estimated 1,256 homes of Black residents, as well as virtually every
other structure, including churches, schools, businesses, a hospital,
and a library, leaving nearly 9,000 Black Tulsans homeless and
effectively wiping out tens of millions of dollars in Black prosperity
and wealth in Tulsa;
Whereas, in the wake of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Governor of Oklahoma
declared martial law, and units of the Oklahoma National Guard
participated in the mass arrests of all or nearly all of Greenwood's
surviving residents, removing them from Greenwood to other parts of
Tulsa and unlawfully detaining them in holding centers;
Whereas Oklahoma local and State governments dismissed claims arising from the
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre for decades, and the event was effectively
erased from collective memory and history until, in 1997, the Oklahoma
State Legislature finally created a commission to study the event;
Whereas, on February 28, 2001, the commission issued a report that detailed, for
the first time, the extent of the Massacre and decades-long efforts to
suppress its recollection;
Whereas none of the law enforcement officials nor any of the hundreds of other
White mob members who participated in the violence were ever prosecuted
or held accountable for the hundreds of lives lost and tens of millions
of dollars of Black wealth destroyed, despite the Tulsa Race Massacre
Commission confirming their roles in the Massacre, nor was any
compensation ever provided to the Massacre's victims or their
descendants;
Whereas government and city officials not only abdicated their responsibility to
rebuild and repair the Greenwood community in the wake of the violence,
but actively blocked efforts to do so, contributing to continued racial
disparities in Tulsa akin to those that Black people face across the
United States;
Whereas the pattern of violence against Black people in the United States, often
at the hands of law enforcement, shows that the fight to end State-
sanctioned violence against Black people continues; and
Whereas the year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes the forthcoming centennial of the Tulsa Race
Massacre;
(2) acknowledges the historical significance of this event
as one of the largest single instances of State-sanctioned
violence against Black people in American history;
(3) honors the lives and legacies of the estimated 300
Black individuals who were killed during the Massacre and the
nearly 9,000 Black individuals who were left homeless and
penniless;
(4) condemns the participants of the Tulsa Race Massacre,
including White municipal officials and law enforcement who
directly participated in or who aided and abetted the unlawful
violence;
(5) condemns past and present efforts to cover up the truth
and shield the White community, and especially State and local
officials, from accountability for the Tulsa Race Massacre and
other instances of violence at the hands of law enforcement;
(6) condemns the continued legacy of racism, including
systemic racism, and White supremacy against Black people in
the United States, particularly in the form of police
brutality;
(7) encourages education about the Tulsa Race Massacre,
including the horrors of the massacre itself, the history of
White supremacy that fueled the massacre, and subsequent
attempts to deny or cover up the Massacre, in all elementary
and secondary education settings and in institutions of higher
education in the United States; and
(8) recognizes the commitment of Congress to acknowledge
and learn from the history of racism and racial violence in the
United States, including the Tulsa Race Massacre, to reverse
the legacy of White supremacy and fight for racial justice.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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