It’s been 100 years since the deadly Tulsa Race massacre, one of the worst acts of racial violence in American history. As such, U.S. President Joe Biden, who travelled to Oklahoma, declared during his speech there, that the prejudice against Black people cannot be tolerated, and that the massacre cannot be left unremembered. Not only did he have his hands full commemorating the 100th anniversary of the massacre, but he also pleaded for sweeping legislation in Congress to protect Americans’ voting rights.
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100 years ago to the day, Americans woke up to this sorry sight: More than 300 Black Americans were killed and hundreds more badly wounded, in what was billed as one of the worst acts of racial violence on record.
Today, U.S. President Joe Biden travelled all the way to Oklahoma to commemorate the 100th anniversary of that massacre.
Biden became the first President in America’s history to commemorate the Tulsa Race massacre, which was left unremembered for decades.
Amid the current national reckoning on racial justice, Biden decried the horrific massacre during his emotional speech.
Biden:
This was not a riot. This was a massacre. And for too long, forgotten by our history.
Voiceover:
As many Americans are trying to do their part to close the racial wealth gap, President was also at it, announcing new plans aimed at closing the racial wealth gap.
Biden:
Imagine all of those hotels, dinners and mom-and-pop shops that could have been passed down. Shockingly, the percentage of Black American home ownership is lower today in America than when the fair housing act was passed more than 50 years ago. That’s wrong. We are committed to changing that.
Voiceover:
Historians shed light on the Tulsa Race massacre. They said the massacre began after a local newspaper drummed up a furore over a Black man accused of stepping on a white girl’s foot. Everything was fine in Oklahoma, until the evening on May 31, 1921, when mobs of White Americans attacked and looted stores, and set stores on fire, insofar as every store in Greenwood district was all but severely damaged, with many Black Americans injured or killed. The massacre ended on June 1, 1921. But more than 300 Black Americans had been killed hitherto.
President Biden also made well use of the 100th anniversary of the massacre to make a plea for sweeping legislation in Congress to protect Americans’ voting rights. However, he acknowledged that despite having been fighting tooth and nail to protect Americans’ voting rights via passing legislations, he hasn’t been able to get a voting rights bill passed because of ideological divide in his Democratic party.
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