OCT 5, 2024 Story by: Editor
TULSA, Okla. — A century after the Tulsa Race Massacre, one pressing question still lingers in the community: Are there unidentified mass graves hidden beneath these grounds?
Eyewitness testimonies and stories passed down through generations have strongly suggested that more victims are buried throughout Tulsa.
In our special presentation, “Chronicle: The Grit of Greenwood,” survivors recounted seeing “truckloads of bodies” being dumped at various locations. However, it took almost 100 years before any real action was initiated.
Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum has made it his mission to address some of the past injustices linked to the massacre.
“We’d known for 95 years at that point that there were graves of race massacre victims around town, but the conventional wisdom was, ‘oh, there’ll be this big backlash.’ And so nobody, you know, elected officials would never touch it and wouldn’t want to move forward with it,” Bynum stated.
Researchers believe the area they are investigating could hold the remains of up to 30 individuals. The key to identifying them will be DNA matching.
“To hopefully have some kind of DNA, gathered that maybe it can be traced to some, some descendants of today. So that’s the big hope of that. And then once all that is done, give them a proper place and a proper burial at a later time,” said J. Kavin Ross.
Oaklawn Cemetery is just one of several locations being examined. Researchers from the University of Oklahoma and state geologists plan to scan other sites where mass graves might exist.
“Other reports about bodies thrown over the Arkansas River, various parts of the city, even taken out of town,” added Ross.
While identified victims will be reinterred at Oaklawn Cemetery, the city is working on establishing a more permanent memorial.
Excavation efforts are set to resume later this summer. In the meantime, questions remain about reparations for the descendants. Should they receive compensation similar to what Native Americans and Holocaust survivors have been granted? This ongoing discussion asks: What can be done to heal the wounds that persist in this community? Source: KOCO News 5
