I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3466 
To provide a remedy for survivors and descendants of the victims of the 
Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Massacre of 1921. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 21, 2021 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Ms. PLASKETT, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS 
of Illinois, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. BROWN, Mr. TORRES of New 
York, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. CARSON, Ms. JACOBS of California, Ms. 
SEWELL, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. WIL-
SON of Florida, and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide a remedy for survivors and descendants of the 
victims of the Tulsa, Oklahoma Race Massacre of 1921. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tulsa-Greenwood Mas-
sacre Claims Accountability Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
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(1) In 1921, Greenwood (a community in 
Tulsa, Oklahoma) was one of the most prosperous 
African-American communities in the United States. 
At the time, an estimated 11,000 African Americans 
lived in Greenwood, and its commercial district was 
known nationally as the ‘‘Black Wall Street’’. The 
community boasted two newspapers, over a dozen 
churches, and hundreds of African-American-owned 
businesses. 
(2) On the evening of May 31, 1921, the Afri-
can-American Greenwood community of Tulsa, Okla-
homa was ravaged by a White mob, some of whom 
were deputized and armed by law enforcement. By 
the conclusion of the massacre at midday, June 1, 
virtually every building in a 42-square-block area of 
the community—homes, schools, churches, and busi-
nesses—was burned to the ground and thousands 
were left homeless. Over 1,200 homes were de-
stroyed. Every church, school, and business in 
Greenwood was set on fire. Approximately 8,000 Af-
rican Americans were left homeless and penniless. 
Unable to rebuild, thousands of residents spent the 
winter of 1921 to 1922 in tents. 
(3) Credible evidence supports the belief that 
approximately 300 African Americans were killed 
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during the massacre, but the exact death toll re-
mains unknown. 
(4) In the wake of the destruction, a State-con-
vened grand jury officially placed responsibility for 
the violence on the African-American community, ex-
onerating Whites of all responsibility. No one was 
ever prosecuted or punished for the violent criminal 
acts. 
(5) None of the nearly 200 contemporaneously 
filed lawsuits by residents and property owners in 
Greenwood were successful in recovering damages 
from insurance companies to assist in the recon-
struction of the community. After the city attempted 
to block their redevelopment efforts, victims were 
forced to rebuild with their own resources or aban-
don the community. 
(6) State and local governments suppressed or 
ignored issues and claims arising from the 1921 
massacre, effectively excising it from collective mem-
ory, until the Oklahoma Legislature created a com-
mission to study the event in 1997. The commis-
sion’s February 28, 2001, report uncovered new in-
formation and detailed, for the first time, the extent 
of involvement by the State and city government in 
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prosecuting and erasing evidence of the massacre 
(Okla. Stat. Tit. 74 Section 8000.1 (West 2005)). 
(7) The documentation assembled by the ‘‘1921 
Tulsa Race Riot Commission’’ provides strong evi-
dence that some local municipal and county officials 
failed to take actions to calm or contain the situa-
tion once violence erupted and, in some cases, be-
came participants in the subsequent violence, and 
even deputized and armed many Whites who were 
part of a mob that killed, looted, and burned down 
the Greenwood area. 
(8) Based on information contained in the re-
port, the Greenwood claimants filed suit, pursuant 
to the laws codified in sections 1981, 1983, and 
1985 of title 42 of the United States Code and the 
14th Amendment, seeking damages for the injuries 
sustained in the massacre as a result of the govern-
ment’s involvement. Their claims were dismissed as 
time barred by the court, and so were not deter-
mined on the merits (382 F.3d 1206 (10th Cir. 
2004), rehrg en banc denied (with dissent), 391 
F.3d (10th Cir. 2004), cert denied Alexander v. 
State of Oklahoma, 544 U.S. 1044 (2005)). 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are the following: 
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(1) To ensure that laws governing claims made 
in connection with the Tulsa, Oklahoma race mas-
sacre of 1921 and its aftermath further the United 
States policy of providing compensation to any 
Greenwood race massacre victim, who was physically 
injured or killed or who had their property destroyed 
or taken as a result of the actions of the individuals 
acting under color of State, county, or municipal au-
thorization, their heirs, and beneficiaries. 
(2) To ensure that claims made in connection 
with the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre of 1921 
and its aftermath are not unfairly barred by statutes 
of limitations or laches or other similar provision of 
any applicable law relating to the timeliness of the 
filing of claims that might prevent a claim from 
being heard on its merits, or any notice require-
ments imposed by State law, but are resolved in a 
just and fair manner. 
SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Every person who, in connection 
with the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre of 1921 and its 
aftermath, acted under color of any statute, ordinance, 
regulation, custom, or usage of the State of Oklahoma or 
the city of Tulsa to subject, or cause to be subjected, any 
Greenwood race massacre victim to the deprivation, on ac-
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count of race, of any right secured at the time of the depri-
vation by the United States Constitution, shall be liable 
to the Greenwood race massacre victim, or their heir or 
beneficiary, in a civil action for redress. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘Greenwood race massacre vic-
tim’’ means any person that was physically injured 
or killed or had their property destroyed or taken as 
a result of the actions of a person acting under color 
of State, county, or municipal authorization during 
or in the aftermath of the Tulsa race massacre of 
1921. 
(2) The term ‘‘person’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 1 of title 1, United States 
Code. 
(3) The term ‘‘redress’’ includes, for any resid-
ual fund created by litigation under this Act, the ap-
pointment of a special master to create and admin-
ister a compensation program, in consultation with 
the prevailing class of litigants, to make grants to or 
enter into contracts with any community-based orga-
nization, network, or coalition of community-based 
organizations to promote the health, safety, and wel-
fare of that class. 
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SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a Green-
wood race massacre victim, or their heir or beneficiary, 
who previously brought an action under section 1979 of 
the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 
1983) that was dismissed because the statute of limita-
tions is not precluded from bringing an action under this 
Act. 
Æ 
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