Biden Proclaims Tulsa Race Massacre Day Of Remembrance

On Monday (May 31), President Joe Biden issued a proclamation to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.

According to a White House release, the proclamation is titled “Day of Remembrance: 100 Years After The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre” and calls on Americans to “reflect on the deep roots of racial terror in our Nation and recommit to the work of rooting out systemic racism across our country.”

“One hundred years ago, a violent white supremacist mob raided, firebombed, and destroyed approximately 35 square blocks of the thriving Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Families and children were murdered in cold blood. Homes, businesses, and churches were burned. In all, as many as 300 Black Americans were killed, and nearly 10,000 were left destitute and homeless,” said Biden in the proclamation.

RELATED: The Tulsa Race Massacre 100 Years Later: Why Descendants Are Demanding Reparations For The Racial Terrorism Their Ancestors Faced

He added: “With this proclamation, I commit to the survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, including Viola Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis, and Lessie Benningfield Randle, the descendants of victims, and to this Nation that we will never forget. We honor the legacy of the Greenwood community, and of Black Wall Street, by reaffirming our commitment to advance racial justice through the whole of our government, and working to root out systemic racism from our laws, our policies, and our hearts.”

On Tuesday, President Biden is scheduled to travel to Tulsa to tour the Greenwood Cultural Center and meet with surviving members of the community. He will also deliver remarks to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the tragic massacre.

In his proclamation, Biden acknowledged the laws and policies that made it so that Black families could not rebuild after the destruction.

“The Federal Government must reckon with and acknowledge the role that it has played in stripping wealth and opportunity from Black communities,” Biden said.

Earlier this month, Viola Fletcher, one of the survivors of the massacre, testified before members of the House Judiciary subcommittee and called for justice and for the country to officially acknowledge Black Wall Street and what happened on that tragic day a century ago.