Viola Ford Fletcher He is one of the last survivors of the Tulsa Oklahoma race. He spent many years seeking justice in a deadly attack by a white mob in the thriving black community where he lived as a child. Today, his family confirmed his passing at the age of 111, via the Associated Press.
Related: Survivors in Tulsa Oklahoma have filed a lawsuit against the state Supreme Court
The community mourns the loss of Viola Ford Fletcher
Grandson of Viola, Ike howardsaid Monday (November 24) that he died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital. She was a woman of strong faith who raised three children, served as a sailor during World War II and spent decades caring for families as a Housekeeper. He didn’t retire until he was 85. Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols said the village mourned his loss.
“Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life blazing a path forward with purpose,” Nichols said in a statement.
Viola survived the Tulsa race carnage
Viola Ford Fletcher was 7 years old when a two-day rampage began in Tulsa’s Greenwood District on May 31, 1921. The rampage came after a local newspaper reported that a black writer had been accused of beating a black woman. As a white crowd grew outside the courthouse, black Tulsans with guns hoping to block the sight of the man began to appear. The white settlers responded with great force. White mobs killed hundreds of people and burned and looted homes. More than 30 city blocks in the community known as black wall street were destroyed.
“I will never forget the remains of our thriving community, the smoke in the air, and the faces of my neighbors,” wrote Memori who was arrested in 2023, “don’t let them bury this story of mine.”
When his family left in a horse-drawn buggy, his eyes burned with smoke and ash, he wrote. He described seeing piles of bodies in the streets and watching as a white man shot a black man in the head, then chased him away from his family.
Oklahoma Supreme Court denies retribution for survivors
The 1921 tursa race massacre in Oklahoma, a major debate began when the state formed a commission in 1997 to investigate the violence. Fast forward two decades – the city was looking for ways to help the murder victim’s descendants without direct cash payments. Some of the last surviving survivors, including Viola, received donations from groups but received no payments from the city or state.
In 2021, Viole Ford Fletcher testified before her experiences during and after the massacre. His younger brother, Hughes van Ellisand the other who survived the execution, Benning Benningfield RonLELEhe joined his case seeking revenge. In January 2024, a Justice Department review highlighted the scope of the killings and the impact. It concluded that a Federal prosecution might have been possible a hundred years ago. However, there was no avenue to bring a criminal case.
That same year, in June 2024, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the survivors’ case. The judges said their complaints did not fall within the state’s public health problem. Van Ellis had passed away in 2023 at the age of 102.
“As long as we stay alive, we will continue to shine a light on one of the darkest days in American history,” Rioka Ford Fletcher and Randle said in a statement at the time.
Related: First victim of 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma race murders identified in over 100 graves found
Associated Press writer Jamie Stengle contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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