BIDEN ISSUES PROCLAMATION ON TULSA MASSACRE AT WHITE HOUSE
" I Call On The American People To Recommit To The Work Of Rooting Out Systemic Racism Across Our Country."
May 31, 2021 By Art Fletcher, Morell Morand, & Leonard Madison Reporting For: Englebrook Independent News
WASHINGTON, DC.- President Biden, today issued a proclamation to remember the 1921 race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, calling on Americans to work to eradicate systemic racism and pledging to further racial justice.
" I call upon the people of The United States to commemorate the tremendous loss of life and security that occurred over those two days in 1921, to celebrate the bravery and resilience of those who survived and sought to rebuild their lives again, and commit together to eradicate systemic racism and to help rebuild communities, and the lives that have been destroyed by it," Biden said in the proclamation.
During the days of May 31st and June 1, 1921, white rioters ravaged the wealthy Black Community of Greenwood, a center of Black- Owned Businesses, known as, " Black Wall Street, " in Tulsa Oklahoma. The riot killed hundreds of Black Residents and left Greenwood wavering.
No residents who survived the massacre or their relatives have been given any compensation in return. Insurance Companies refuted and denied most of the claims, which today would be worth more than $28 million. Approximately 10,000 resident were left homeless.
" I call on the American people to reflect on the deep roots of racial terror in our Nation and recommit to the work of rooting out systemic racism across our country," Biden further said in the proclamation, today, in which he committed to remove systemic racism from policies, laws, and hearts.
In the proclamation, Biden also called on The Federal Government to " reckon with and acknowledge " how it has " stripped " wealth and opportunity from Black Communities." He stated his Administration was " committed to acknowledge" how federal policy affected Greenwood.
The President said that laws and policies made recuperating from the massacre " nearly impossible " including Federal Highway construction splitting the community.
Biden also pledged that his Administration would tackle racial inequities in a number of ways, including infrastructure, environmental justice, and monies for businesses in " economically disadvantaged " regions, and particular for minority owned businesses.
On Tuesday, Biden will visit Tulsa, where he will give a deliver a speech on the massacre, and meet with survivors.
The Centennial comes just over a year after the Nation faced reckoning following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis Police Officer. Earlier this year, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention declared racism a " severe public health threat," with Director Rochelle Walensky pointing to "severe" and " unacceptable " inequities in health outcomes across racial and ethnic lines.
FILED UNDER MAY 31, 2021: NATIONAL, WASHINGTON, BIDEN: