Judge lets Tulsa Race Massacre reparations lawsuit proceed

By KEN MILLER
Associated Press

An Oklahoma judge has ruled that a lawsuit can proceed that seeks reparations for survivors and descendants of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Tulsa County District Court Judge Caroline Wall’s ruling Monday brought new hope for some measure of justice over the deadly, racist rampage that destroyed what had been the nation’s most prosperous Black business district. Wall decided against a motion to dismiss the lawsuit from the city, the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce and other local and state entities. Civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons filed the lawsuit in 2020 under the state’s public nuisance law. It seeks unspecified punitive damages and that other steps be taken.