The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has officially characterized the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre as a “coordinated, military-style attack” on the prosperous Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The recently released federal report highlights the deliberate and systematic nature of the attack that killed up to 300 Black Tulsa residents, destroyed over 35 city blocks, and displaced thousands.
This report, the result of a four-month investigation, is the first time the federal government has formally documented the massacre in such detail. Kristen Clarke, assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, described it as “a civil rights crime unique in its magnitude, barbarity, racist hostility, and utter annihilation of a thriving Black community.”
The DOJ’s findings dismantle earlier narratives that described the violence as spontaneous. The report reveals that the massacre stemmed from systemic racial resentment among white residents and was ignited by an unfounded rumors that 19-year-old Dick Rowland, a Black man, assaulted a white woman operating an elevator. Local newspapers ran with the story, mobilizing a white mob demanding Rowland’s lynching, The New York Times reports.
Greenwood’s residents, including Black World War I veterans, attempted to protect Rowland, but the situation escalated when Tulsa police deputized hundreds of white citizens. The armed mob launched a coordinated assault, destroying homes, businesses, and churches in Greenwood and police actively participated by disarming Black residents and detaining them in internment camps.
The DOJ report highlights how the violence became systematic by the morning of June 1, 1921, with white Tulsans engaging in looting, arson, and killings under the guise of law enforcement.
Following the massacre, survivors and their descendants were challenged with additional injustices, such as insurance claims being denied due to “riot clauses.” Additionally, legal attempts to hold the city accountable also failed, leaving Greenwood’s Black residents without ways to get redress, WBAL reports.
Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, representing survivors Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher, criticized the DOJ for failing to notify families about the report or meetings held to discuss its findings.