Oklahoma won't reconsider appeals from survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre and has refused to settle.

Lessie Benningfield Randle, Viola Fletcher, and Hughes Van Ellis have been seeking justice for the atrocities they survived for over one hundred years. The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 was a brutal attack on the thriving Black district of Greenwood, Oklahoma, perpetrated by a white mob with state-sanctioned approval. Despite this, Oklahoma has yet to make any effort to atone for their part in the massacre.

The three survivors have filed a lawsuit against the state for reparations, but Oklahoma has yet to acknowledge the lasting effects of the massacre on the Black residents of Tulsa. Their attorney, Damario Solomon-Simmons, has noted that Oklahoma's refusal to settle is unsurprising considering the state's role in the massacre. He has also pointed out that the survivors are heroes, yet Oklahoma has had over a century to do right by them.

Further, District Court Judge Caroline Wall has ruled that the survivors have failed to provide sufficient proof of a need for reparations. The survivors have argued that Oklahoma's 'public nuisance' law should be used as grounds for the state to take action, but the state has denied this. Assistant Attorney General Kevin McClure has stated that the survivors have failed to properly allege how the Oklahoma Military Department created an ongoing public nuisance.

The state has only acknowledged the massacre as part of Oklahoma's stained racial history, but no other form of atonement has been made. Solomon-Simmons has noted that the survivors of the massacre are still living and the perpetrators, including the state, are still in existence. The buildings that were destroyed during the massacre still have not been rebuilt, and this serves as a stark reminder of the atrocities committed over one hundred years ago.

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