The victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre who are suing for restitution and who challenged a judge’s decision to dismiss their case this past month have been told by Oklahoma that they would not be allowed to talk about a settlement with them.
The legal division of the state prosecutor general’s office responded on Monday. The Oklahoma Supreme Court decided to take the survivors’ appeal under consideration.
Only three confirmed victims of the assault are still alive, and they are all well past their 100th birthday. In their lawsuit against the town, the state, and other parties, Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher, and Hughes Van Ellis demanded compensation for the white mob’s devastation of the once-vibrant Black neighborhood referred to as Greenwood. The trial court judge excluded from the case many additional original claimants who are relatives of survivors from the previous year.