Story at a glance
- Anywhere between 38 and 300 people were reportedly killed in the 1921 Tulsa, Okla., race riots.
- Investigators have identified two possible locations of mass graves of riot victims in Tulsa.
- The city has announced plans to excavate one of the locations in a search for victims.
Nearly a century after the deadly Tulsa race riots, the city is digging into its history, hoping that by searching for possible mass graves, they can finally put the past to rest.
“We are committed to exploring what happened in 1921 through a collective and transparent process. Filling gaps in our city’s history, and providing healing and justice to our community,” said Mayor G.T. Bynum, according to the L.A. Times, addressing plans to excavate a plot of land identified as a potential mass grave.
In December, researchers located two possible sites of mass graves of victims of the 1921 Tulsa race riots using geophysical scanning. In April, KFOR reports, crews will break ground on one of the two identified sites, a section of the city-owned Oaklawn Cemetery.
“We do not propose to exhume any human remains during this phase of the investigation,” a committee of archaeologists and forensic anthropologists said, according to the Washington Post. “However, any human remains that are uncovered during the excavation will be treated respectfully and with reverence.”
The excavation will be limited to removing the top layer of soil in a search for human remains, which will then be analyzed to determine whether they were associated with a violent event. The city’s Mass Graves Investigation Public Oversight Committee is still deciding further plans for any remains found and other potential mass grave sites.
If a mass grave is found, there could be anywhere from tens to hundreds of victims. The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics officially recorded 36 people killed in the violence, but the Tulsa Reparations Coalition found reports of up to 300 dead.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the riots, known as one of the worst outbreaks of racial violence in American history. Mobs of white residents of Tulsa attacked black residents and businesses of the prosperous Greenwood District, with hundreds sent to hospitals and thousands to jail before the violence ended. But many Americans knew little to nothing about the riots until an episode of the “Watchmen” last year.
“Think about all the death and destruction. And no one — to this day not a single person — has been held accountable. It’s devastating,” Karlos K. Hill, chair of the African and African American studies department at the University of Oklahoma, told the L.A. Times. “Hopefully people in the community get the answers they deserve.”
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