Today at 10 a.m., in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing on H.R. 1995, the "Tulsa-Greenwood Riot Accountability Act of 2007."
Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., who wrote the legislation, said in a statement:
Congress and America have forgotten this horrible time in our history for too long. Tulsa’s black community was a tremendous example of self-sufficiency during segregation and Jim Crow, only to be destroyed in race riots. These families deserve the ability to seek justice in our court system and my bill would allow them to do that.
Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler added:
The Tulsa Riots are a shameful chapter in our history, events all too often skipped over in our national conscience. Tuesday's hearing will help Americans understand what happened in 1921 and offer a chance for Congress to right that wrong.
The bill would extend the statute of limitations for the survivors of this incident of domestic terrorism, all of whom are now in their 90s. The witnesses will include:
- John Hope Franklin, Ph.D., Descendant of a Survivor
- Olivia J. Hooker, Ph.D. (and here), Survivor
- Charles J. Ogletree Jr., Lead Counsel for the Survivors
For info on the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, click here.
