Oklahoma declines to discuss a settlement of Tulsa Race Massacre survivors’ lawsuit – By Ayanna Alexander and Sean Murphy (AP News) / Aug 15, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma says it won’t discuss a settlement with survivors who are seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and have appealed a Tulsa County judge’s dismissal of the case last month.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has agreed to consider the survivors’ appeal, and the state attorney general’s litigation division filed its response Monday.
There are just three known survivors of the attack still living, all of them more than 100 years old. Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher and Hughes Van Ellis have sued for reparations from the city, state and others for the white mob’s destruction of the once-thriving Black district known as Greenwood. Several other original plaintiffs who are descendants of survivors were dismissed from the case by the trial court judge last year.
“It’s no surprise that the state, which took part in a lawless massacre of American citizens, has refused to settle,” their attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons, said in a statement to The Associated Press.
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