Tulsa Oklahoma investigates possible mass grave as evidence about the 1921 racial pogrom

"The Tulsa race riot of 1921, took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of white residents attacked black residents and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has been called 'the single worst incident of racial violence in American history'." Wikipedia
My first blog about this subject was posted in August, 2019, in Maine Writer blogspot, because I was stunned to read about this tragedy in Tulsa World, when I was researching opinions about Donald Trump.

"The number of deaths from the riot has never been confirmed, but estimates vary from about three dozen to 300 or more."
In fact, my response was, "Why have I never read about this terrible racial pogrom!" Now, a follow up published in USA Today follows up with discoveries that will validate this event and brings the issue of reparations closer to being realized. Indeed, in my opinion, Oklahomans owe reparations for the devastation of the "Black Wall Street" in the Greenwood community.  

Researchers have found a possible mass grave in Tulsa. Could it be from the 1921 race riot?

A USA Today report by Joel Shannon

Researchers working to locate bodies of victims from the 1921 Tulsa race riot believe they've found at least one mass grave associated with the deadly tragedy.

The massacre, featured prominently in the HBO series "Watchmen" this year, happened when a white mob destroyed the 35-block "Black Wall Street" – a thriving business district in Tulsa. The number of deaths from the riot has never been confirmed, but estimates vary from about three dozen to 300 or more.

Thanks in part to the suppression of news reports at the time, the massacre received little national attention until recently, History.com reports.

Now, after analyzing three possible sites of mass graves associated with the tragedy, Scott Hammerstedt, researcher at the Oklahoma Archeological Survey, University of Oklahoma, says that all three show ground abnormalities, but one in particular shows hallmarks of a mass grave.

The discovery could be an important step toward closure for victims' families and may help experts better understand the scope of the tragedy, he told USA TODAY on Tuesday. An excavation will need to be performed to confirm the findings, but doing so requires official approval – which could be months away.

“Travesty” isn't a strong enough word to describe the carnage of the 1921 Tulsa race riot, Hammerstedt said. Some locals believe many more people died than the number officials estimate, but it will be difficult to find a definitive answer, he said.

Most victims were buried during a period of martial law following the violence, Hammerstedt explained. With few official records, researchers must rely on oral history and witnesses to help identify locations where victims may be buried.

A December report details how Hammerstedt and his team analyzed several sites in Tulsa. Previously, experts warned the project faced multiple challenges – the number of years that have passed makes identifying remains a challenge.

Despite being one of the worst race-related massacres in U.S. history, the incident received little recent national attention until being featured on HBO, Hammerstedt said.

Olivia Hooker, one of the last survivors of the riot, recalled the massacre in a 2017 interview and spoke of Ku Klux Klan rioters: “They were furious when they came in our home and my mother was cooking and not running away. ... They took the food and dumped it in the mud and then they came back and took her nice flaky biscuits out of the oven and dumped them out on the dirt. ... We were hiding under the table where she put us and we could see all this; well, it didn’t astonish my older sister and brother because they knew about things."

Hooker died in Nov. 2018. She was among survivors who filed an unsuccessful federal lawsuit seeking reparations for one of the most horrific riots in U.S. history.