White Supremacist Terror Act Victims Finally Discovered After 101 Years

A Third Set of Remains with Bullet Wounds Exhumed in Search for Victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Another body, another wound, another step towards justice. Tulsa, Oklahoma wakes up to this harsh reality as state officials announce the discovery of remains with bullet wounds at Oaklawn Cemetery, the latest in the city's 1921 Graves Investigation.

"We found what are very likely bullet wounds in a body near the 'Original 18' area. This is the third such discovery, with all bodies found in adult-sized coffins and sent to an on-site lab for further investigation."

• City of Tulsa Press Release

This body, like the other two discovered, was an adult. They were found near Burial 3 and the "Original 18" - 18 Black men, massacred and buried, their stories long silenced. This excavation site has already exposed 40 previously undetected graves, and the city has three other potential sites to explore: Newblock Park, an area near it, and Rolling Oaks Memorial Gardens (formerly Booker T. Washington Cemetery).

This news comes hot on the heels of Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum's recent announcement confirming the identity of the first exhumed body as C. L. Daniel, a World War 1 U.S. Army Veteran, via DNA from his next of kin. Daniel wasn't listed in the Oklahoma Commission’s 2001 Report on the massacre, a stark reminder of how much is still unknown about this dark chapter in Tulsa's history.

The Tulsa Massacres of May 31 and June 1, 1921, saw a white mob destroy the thriving, predominantly Black, Greenwood district - also known as Black Wall Street. Over 1,000 homes were burned, looted, and destroyed in this horrific display of racial violence, considered one of the worst in US history. The city of Tulsa, to its credit, is attempting reparations with a master plan focused on ensuring Black Tulsans and descendants of the massacre benefit from the redevelopment of the area.

The 2018 investigation into these heinous crimes, aimed at reconnecting the present with the past, is long overdue. Tulsa is waking up, and so should the nation, to the horrors of its racist past and the work needed to build a fairer future.

Sources/Links:

• https://www.cityoftulsa.org/press-room/major-discovery-made-in-1921-graves-investigation-c-l-daniel-confirmed-as-first-victim-identified-from-city-s-yearslong-investigation/
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