Biden honors forgotten victims of Tulsa race massacre

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and DARLENE SUPERVILLE

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — President Joe Biden led a remembrance Tuesday of one of the nation’s darkest — and long suppressed — moments of racial violence, marking the 100th anniversary of the destruction of a thriving Black community in Tulsa.

Biden helped commemorate the deaths of hundreds of Black people killed by a white mob a century ago, his visit coming amid a national reckoning on racial justice. The events stood in stark contrast to then-President Donald Trump’s trip a year ago, which was greeted by protests.

Biden is the first president to participate in remembrances of the destruction of what was known as “Black Wall Street.” In 1921 — on May 31 and June 1 — when a white mob, including some people hastily deputized by authorities, looted and burned the Greenwood district.

The president, joined by three top Black advisers, met privately with three surviving members of the Greenwood community who lived through the violence, the White House said. Viola “Mother” Fletcher, Hughes “Uncle Red” Van Ellis and Lessie “Mother Randle” Benningfield Randle are all between the ages of 101 and 107.



Michelle Brown-Burdex, program coordinator of the Greenwood Cultural Center, speaks as she leads President Joe Biden on a tour of the Greenwood Cultural Center to mark the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, Tuesday, June 1, 2021, in Tulsa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/george-floyd-death-of-george-floyd-donald-trump-tulsa-coronavirus-pandemic-6c24f5e351ceceddff2292178d146ef9

[secondwind]

1. He's giving a hell of a speech right now.....

[LymphocyteLover]

5. some black commentators were not impressed, in particular Joshua Johnson

I guess they wanted more fire and to call for reparations.

[Archae]

8. Radio talk show host Jesse Lee Peterson went on OAN...

Called the whole Tulsa thing "fake."

The worst part about this guy is he's black, yet constantly denigrates anyone not HIS version of "Christian," or anyone to the left of OAN.

https://www.mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network/oan-guest-black-people-are-not-telling-truth-about-what-happened-tulsa-it

[LymphocyteLover]

9. oh.my.god. -- how sick.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. Biden delivers remarks on Tulsa Race Massacre after meeting with survivors

President Joe Biden is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to mark the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, becoming the first sitting president to visit the historic Greenwood neighborhood to commemorate the deadly racial attack.

Biden first toured the Greenwood Cultural Center and privately met with survivors ahead of remarks in which he announced new actions his administration is taking to narrow the racial wealth gap between Black and white Americans.

Biden was introduced by Lauren Usher, a descendent of a Tulsa Race Massacre victim. The living survivors -- aged 101 to 107 -- looked on for his speech.

"You are the three known remaining survivors of a story seen in the mirror dimly. But no longer. Now, your story will be known in full view," Biden began.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-delivers-remarks-on-tulsa-race-massacre-after-meeting-with-survivors/ar-AAKBLOL

[Evolve Dammit]

3. He can do things Obama would have been crucified for (being white of course). Long overdue. nt

[electric_blue68]

4. yeah, it probably could have been some version...

the "angry black man" trope for President Obama.
Even though any black person, and other people of conciousness would have every right to be angry!

I heard about this over 15 or so years ago - this thriving bustling area being destroyed, along with a lot of the people.
But i didn't know about the fire bombing by private planes, or interment camps afterwards. 😔😔

[Evolve Dammit]

6. What a horrible event white-washed from history for 100 years. So much was erased and needs teaching

[TomWilm]

7. Fire bombing by planes - saw in in Watchmen!

In 1985 there was another forgotten deadly aerial assault on black people in an American city. The city police of Philadelphia dropped a bomb made of C-4 plastic explosives from a state police helicopter. The target was a row house which at the time had 13 American citizens inside.

They were all members of Move, a group which combined the black liberation struggle with back-to-nature environmentalism. Only two of the 13 residents of the Move house got out alive. The remaining 11, including five children aged seven to 13, were similarly reduced to ashes.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/10/move-1985-bombing-reconciliation-philadelphia