WASHINGTON — Later this month will mark the 100-year anniversary of a dark moment in our nation's history.
Historians believe that as many as 300 Black people were killed, and 10,000 were left homeless when the all-Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was destroyed on May 31 and June 1,1921, by an all-white mob, in what is known as the Tulsa Race Massacre.
Now, three survivors of the massacre are suing the city of Tulsa, Tulsa County, the state of Oklahoma, and the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce for reparations.
On Wednesday, they spoke before a house judiciary subcommittee.
And while 100 years have passed, memories of the horrific tragedy are still fresh for those who survived.
"I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot," one survivor testified.
Hear me out:
This is about telling the true history of our nation.
I didn't even learn about the Tulsa race riots when I was a kid.
We must acknowledge the bad along with the good.
Here we are, talking about a painful moment 100 years ago, when there are those in Congress who are turning a blind eye and denying what happened at the U.S. Capitol less than five months ago.
Our history is a difficult history, but it is what it is. We cannot ignore, and we should not whitewash it.
Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and others in Congress are once again trying to re-frame and whitewash history.
It's time that they do the right thing and acknowledge *all* of our history no matter how painful it is. If they can't or won't do it, we should find somebody who can.
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