In Tulsa, an investigation finds possible evidence of mass graves from 1921 race massacre

[Mike 03]

WAPO:

Forensic scientists announced Monday that there are “anomalies” consistent with mass graves that warrant further examination, including excavation

Excerpt:

Scott Hammerstedt, a scientist who worked on the geophysical survey, said at Oaklawn “there are quite a lot of anomalies here consistent with mass graves” near a part of the cemetery where city records show 18 black people were buried in June 1921.

In another section of the cemetery, they discovered “what very much looks like a human-dug pit,” Hammerstedt said. “This is very likely a candidate to be a mass burial. We may need to investigate further.”

Tulsa officials had said earlier that the next phase of the investigation could include excavation and an investigation by the State of Oklahoma’s Medical Examiner’s Office into causes of death.

Snip

The mob gathered after a black teenager, who was working as a shoe shiner in downtown Tulsa, was arrested and accused of assaulting a white woman “on a public elevator in broad daylight,” according to the Tulsa Race Riot Commission Report, released in 2001.

There was a scuffle between “angry white vigilantes gathered at the courthouse intent on lynching the shine boy” and armed black men intent on protecting him, according to the commission report. A shot rang out, and the violence began.

Historians believe as many as 300 black people were killed. Much of Greenwood was burned to the ground. The mob, “some of them government agents,” destroyed 35 square blocks of Greenwood, according to the 2001 report. The destruction included more than 1,250 homes, churches, schools, businesses, a hospital and a library.

Survivors reported that bodies were tossed in the Arkansas River or loaded onto trains, making it difficult to count the dead. In 1998, city and state officials began investigating the claims of mass graves in Tulsa.

Much more at link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/12/16/tulsa-moves-closer-learning-if-there-are-mass-graves-race-massacre/

This is a horrifying story. Almost 100 years ago (1921) a mob of "angry white vigilantes" utterly destroyed a 35 block area, an upscale Black community, murdering the inhabitants.

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Oops! I didn't see yours until now - from my OP (I just self-deleted)

Link to tweet

CBS This Morning ✔ @CBSThisMorning

Scientists in Oklahoma are one step closer to finding possible evidence of mass graves linked to one of the worst incidents of racial violence in history. Researchers in Tulsa used ground-penetrating radar to survey three sites. @OmarVillafranca reports.

7:38 AM - Dec 17, 2019

Victims of the Greenwood Massacre of 1921...

[Mike 03]

2. Oh sorry! I should have checked...

It's not necessarily a bad thing to have this posted more than once. I sometimes miss "first posts" but pick it up on the second.