I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4228 
To provide justice for living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa/Greenwood Race 
Massacre. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 27, 2025 
Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. BELL, Mrs. MCIVER, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. 
SIMON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of 
Georgia, Mr. SOTO, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, 
Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. SYKES, Mr. FIELDS, Mr. MEEKS, 
and Mr. FROST) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide justice for living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa/ 
Greenwood Race Massacre. 
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 ‘‘Original Justice for 
living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa/Greenwood Race Mas-
sacre Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) In the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Okla-
homa, on May 31 and June 1, 1921, following spe-
cious allegations that a Black teenager sexually as-
saulted a White woman, a vicious violent mob of 
armed White Tulsans encircled Greenwood and ter-
rorized the district’s Black residents for nearly 48 
hours. During this time, the Federal Government 
did nothing to aid or defend the residents of Green-
wood. 
(2) The violent mob murdered and assaulted 
Black citizens. 
(3) The vicious mob looted and destroyed the 
approximately 35-square block Greenwood commu-
nity, including a Federal post office. 
(4) The Tulsa Race Massacre left hundreds 
dead, over 1,500 homes and businesses destroyed, 
leaving approximately 10,000 Black Tulsans home-
less. 
(5) 
The 
Greenwood 
business 
district, 
colloquially known as Black Wall Street, and once 
considered the wealthiest Black community in the 
nation, was violently decimated. 
(6) For over 100 years, the city, county, State, 
and Federal Governments have failed to ensure any 
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meaningful measure of justice for the victims of the 
Tulsa Race Massacre. 
(7) In 2001, the Oklahoma State Commission 
to Study the Tulsa Race Riot recommended that 
monetary compensation be paid to survivors of the 
Tulsa Race Massacre. The State of Oklahoma and 
City of Tulsa ignored the recommendation, and no 
monetary compensation has been given to any sur-
vivors. 
(8) Only two of the thousands of victims of the 
Tulsa Race Massacre, 111 year-old Viola Ford 
Fletcher and 110 year-old Lessie Benningfield 
Randle, remain with us. They have continued, for 
over 100 years, to appeal to our better angels for 
justice. 
(9) On September 1, 2020, 110-year-old victim 
Viola Ford Fletcher and 111-year-old victim Lessie 
Benningfield Randle filed suit in Oklahoma State 
court. The suit was sadly dismissed, and the regret-
table dismissal was affirmed by the Oklahoma Su-
preme Court on procedural grounds on June 12, 
2024. 
(10) On June 12, 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme 
Court, in its decision dismissing the two survivors’ 
lawsuit, Randle et. al. v. City of Tulsa, et. al. the 
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court acknowledged the legitimacy of the plaintiffs’ 
grievances but concluded that their claims did not 
fall within the scope of Oklahoma’s public nuisance 
statute. Specifically, the court stated ‘‘Plaintiffs’ 
grievance with the social and economic inequities 
created by the Tulsa Race Massacre is legitimate 
and worthy of merit. However, the [Oklahoma State] 
law does not permit us to extend the scope of our 
public nuisance doctrine beyond what the Legisla-
ture has authorized to afford Plaintiffs the justice 
they are seeking.’’. 
(11) On September 30, 2024, the Department 
of Justice announced that it would review and evalu-
ate the Tulsa Race Massacre under the Emmett Till 
Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. 
(12) On January 17, 2025, the United States 
Department of Justice’s report, issued pursuant to 
the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reau-
thorization Act, stated that the Tulsa Race Mas-
sacre of 1921 was not merely an episode of mob vio-
lence, but a systematic and coordinated act of racial 
terrorism. The report concluded that the massacre 
was distinguished by its magnitude, barbarity, and 
white supremacist hostility, resulting in the near- 
total annihilation of Greenwood—a thriving Black 
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community known as Black Wall Street. The De-
partment characterized the massacre as, ‘‘a civil 
rights crime unique in its scale and devastation’’, 
underscoring the profound and unredressed harm in-
flicted upon Black Americans in Tulsa and the fail-
ure of local, State, and Federal authorities to hold 
perpetrators accountable. 
(13) Historical precedents show that the Fed-
eral Government as a determinant of last resort has 
taken action to provide recompense relief for victims 
of blatantly unconscionable mass injustices. 
(14) In 1988, Congress, as a determinant of 
last resort, awarded Japanese citizens who were vic-
tims of unjust internment, $20,000 each. 
(15) In 1990, Congress, as a determinant of 
last resort, awarded eligible workers injured during 
work related to uranium mining, $100,000 each. 
(16) In 2001, Congress, as a determinant of 
last resort, established the 9/11 Victim Compensa-
tion Fund which has, to date, awarded approxi-
mately $19,649,000,000 to victims of the September 
11th terrorist attack. 
(17) In 2015, Congress, pursuant to the Con-
solidated and Further Continuing Appropriations 
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Act, 2015, awarded a five-year $17,000,000 grant 
initiative to assist aging victims of the Holocaust. 
(18) Tulsa Race Massacre victims, 111-year-old 
Viola Ford Fletcher and 110-year-old Lessie 
Benningfield Randle, are in the twilight of their 
lives. Relief action must be taken post haste. 
(19) The failure to accord Race Massacre vic-
tims, 111-year-old Viola Ford Fletcher and 110- 
year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle, monetary relief 
similar to prior historical precedents will become jus-
tice denied. 
SEC. 3. JUST COMPENSATION FOR OVER 100 YEARS OF SUF-
FERING AND INJUSTICE INFLICTED. 
(a) PAYMENT.—Not later than 30 days after receipt 
of the certification required under subsection (c), the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall pay $10,398,368 in compen-
satory damages and $10,398,368 in punitive damages to 
each surviving victim of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre 
still alive, as of May 1, 2025 (or, in the event of death 
prior to such payment, to their estate). 
(b) BASIS.—The payment required by subsection (a) 
shall be to compensate the living survivor for the harm 
they sustained as a result of the failure of the Federal 
Government to prevent, investigate, prosecute, or litigate 
the Tulsa Race Massacre. 
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(c) CERTIFICATION.—Upon receiving proof of iden-
tity in the form of a birth certificate from an individual 
described in subsection (a), the Assistant Attorney Gen-
eral for Civil Rights shall certify the payment authorized 
under subsection (a) to that individual. The Assistant At-
torney General for Civil Rights may not require any addi-
tional information from such an individual to certify such 
payments. 
(d) JUDGMENT FUND.—The payments under sub-
section (a) shall be made out of the fund established under 
section 1304 of title 31, United States Code (commonly 
referred to as the ‘‘Judgment Fund’’). 
SEC. 4. SATISFACTION OF CLAIMS. 
The payments made pursuant to section 3 shall be 
in full satisfaction of all claims a living survivor may have 
against the United States for any harm described in such 
section. 
SEC. 5. INELIGIBILITY FOR ADDITIONAL BENEFITS. 
Upon payment of the sums referred to in section 3, 
a living survivor shall not be eligible for any additional 
compensation or benefits from the Federal Government 
for any harm described in such section. 
Æ 
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