New York donors give $1M to 3 Tulsa Race Massacre survivors

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – The three known living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre are receiving a $1 million donation from a New York philanthropic organization.

Business for Good co-founders Ed and Lisa Mitzen say 108-year-old Viola Ford Fletcher, 107-year-old Lessie Benningfield Randle and 101-year-old Hughes Van Ellis will share the donation.

The three previously received $100,000 each from the Tulsa-based non-profit The Justice for Greenwood Foundation.

The three and descendants of victims are currently suing the City of Tulsa and other entities for reparations for the destruction and lost wealth as a result of the massacre in which a white mob that killed hundreds of Black residents and destroyed what had been the nation’s most prosperous Black business district.