THE OTHER, UNFORTUNATELY.
>> SOMETHING WELL BE TALKING
ABOUT A LOT MORE HERE.
PRESIDENT BIDEN WILL TRAVEL TO
OKLAHOMA TODAY TO COMMEMORATE
THE ULTULSA RACE MASSACRE.
HES ALSO EXPECTED TO DELIVER
REMARKS AT THE SITE OF THE
DEADLY VIOLENCE WHERE A WHITE
MOB MURDERED HUNDREDS OF BLACK
AMERICANS. NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT ANTONIA
NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT ANTONIA
HILTON HAS MORE.
>> Reporter: ONCE THE SITE OF
HORRIFIC RACIAL VIOLENCE,
TULSAS GREENWOOD DISTRICT
TURNED INTO A MEMORIAL AS
RESIDENTS MARCHED AND HONORED
CIVILIANS AND THE FEW REMAINING
SURVIVORS.
100 YEARS AGO, 300 BLACK MEMBERS
OF THE AFFLUENT BLACK
NEIGHBORHOOD WERE MURDERED BY A
WHITE MOB.
10,000 FLED AS THEIR HOMES AND
LIVELIHOODS WERE DESTROYED.
THEY LOST THEIR TAILOR AND SHOE
SHINE SHOPS IN THE MASSACRE.
>> I FEEL LIKE THIS IS OUR FINAL
CHANCE TO PUT PRESSURE ON THE
CITY AND THE STATE WHO WE FEEL
ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
MASSACRE.
WE FEEL THIS IS OUR FINAL CHANCE
TO GET RESTITUTION AND REPAIR
FROM THE CITY OF TULSA.
>> Reporter: THE QUESTION OF
RESTORATION HAS BEEN THE
QUESTION OF CONVERSATION AND
TENSION AS BLACK LAWMAKERS PRESS
FOR REPARATIONS.
>> THATS WHY WERE STAYING OUT
HERE TODAY, REPARATIONS NOW FOR
THOSE SURVIVORS, FOR THE
DESCENDANTS, AND ALSO, REBUILD
BLACK WALL STREET.
>> Reporter: BUT TULSAS MAYOR,
G.T. BYNUM, SAY PAYMENTS TO
SURVIVORS WOULD DIVIDE THE CITY.
HE DECLINED TO SPEAK TO NBC
NEWS.
IN SOLIDARITY WITH SURVIVORS,
JOHN LEGEND AND STACEY ABRAMS
BACKED OUT OF A CEREMONY.
>> WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE
OVERRIDING EMOTION OF THIS
WEEKEND.
>> FOR THE MAYOR AND OTHERS, I
THINK THAT THEY ARE HOPING THAT
THIS WILL WASH OVER QUICKLY AND
THEN ITS BACK TO REGULAR
BUSINESS FOR THEM.
FOR MYSELF, FOR MY COMMUNITY, I
FEEL LIKE ITS THE SUNSHINE
COMING IN.
AND YOU KNOW, SHINING LIGHT ON
100 YEARS OF OPPRESSION AND
GENERATIONAL TRAUMA.
>> AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOURE
STILL CARRYING IT ON YOUR
SHOULDERS TODAY?
>> OH, WITHOUT A DOUBT.
>> Reporter: DAMIAN ROSELLES
FAMILY LOST THEIR GROCERY STORE
IN THE MASSACRE.
>> A LOT OF THE EMPHASIS THIS
WEEKEND IS ON THE DESTRUCTION
THAT TOOK PLACE, BUT NOT REALLY
THE REBUILDING.
SO HOLDING MY GRANDDAUGHTER
RIGHT HERE, ITS ALL ABOUT THE
FUTURE, NOT SO MUCH ABOUT THE
PAST.
>> Reporter: AND REBUILD BLACK
WALL STREET ALL TOGETHER AGAINST
ALL ODDS, JUST AS THEY DID IN
1921.
>> AND MARA, OF COURSE, WEVE
BEEN TALKING ABOUT CONNECTIVE
TISSUE THAT HAVE DRAWN AMERICANS
TOGETHER FOR SO LONG.
OF COURSE, TULSA IS A REMINDER
OF SO MANY AMERICANS WHO NEVER
FELT THAT CONNECTION AND THESE
PICTURES COME BACK A HUNDRED
YEARS LATER, A STARK REMINDER OF
WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN OUR HISTORY
AND WHAT SO MANY AMERICANS TODAY
ARE STILL FIGHTING FOR.
>> ITS A REALLY CHALLENGING
STORY FOR SEVERAL REASONS.
ONE OF THEM IS JUST, WE WERE
TALKING ABOUT VETERANS AND THE
CONNECTIVE TISSUES THAT THAT CAN
BUILD.
AND THATS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.
OF COURSE, THEN, YOU LOOK AT
WHAT HAPPENED IN TULSA, AND YOU
HAVE IMAGES TODAY OF HUNDREDS OF
WORLD WAR I BLACK VETERANS FROM
WORLD WAR I BEING ROUNDED UP AND
PUT INTO THE EQUIVALENT OF LOCAL
CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND MANY OF
THEM LYNCHED.
ITS A VERY HARSH, DIFFICULT
HISTORY THAT IS STILL PRESCIENT
TODAY WHEN YOU THINK, WE STILL
HAVE SURVIVORS FROM THIS.
THE OTHER REASON THIS IS AN
IMPORTANT STORY IS BECAUSE I
THINK AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY
WHITE AMERICANS, BUT AMERICANS
IN GENERAL TEND TO BE VERY GOOD
AT FORGETTING HISTORY, BUT ALSO
TEND TO THINK THAT SLAVERY WAS A
VERY LONG TIME AGO AND THAT
DISCRIMINATION WAS A VERY LONG
TIME AGO.
THE REALITY IS NOT -- THATS
JUST NOT THE CASE.
SO WE HAVE INDIVIDUALS.
I SPOKE, ACTUALLY, TO DR. OLIVIA
HOORK
HOOKER, WHO WAS ONE OF THE LAST
SURVIVORS.
SHE DIED IN 2018.
I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO GET A
CHANCE TO INTERVIEW HER, BOTH
WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL AND
THEN AGAIN AT THE WALL STREET
JOURNAL.
AND SHE SURVIVED THE MASSACRE AS
A LITTLE GIRL.
SHE REMEMBERS PEOPLE WALKING
THROUGH HER BACKYARD WITH
TORCHES, THE MOB, AS SHE AND HER
PARENTS HID UNDER THEIR TABLE IN
THE DINING ROOM WATCHING THEM.
AND SHE GOT THE BABY DOLL AND
HAD THE CLOTHES FOR THE BABY
DOLL THAT HER MOTHER HAD MADE
AND THEY WERE HANGING ON THE
CLOTHES AND THE MOB RETURNED TO
BURN THE DOLL CLOTHES ON THE
CLOTHESLINE.
THATS A STORY THAT I GOT A
CHANCE TO HEAR IN PERSON.
SO I THINK THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE
IS ALSO TRAUMA AND THIS IS NOT
THE ONLY TOWN IN AMERICA WHERE
THIS HAPPENED.
THERES AN IMAGE OF THOSE
VETERANS THERE, I BELIEVE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, IT, DOESNT MEAN
THAT THE AMERICAN EXPERIMENT IS
FOR NOT.
WHAT IT MEANS IS THAT ITS FAR
MORE CONFLICTED AND HAS BEEN FAR
LESS INCLUSIVE THAN WE WANT TO
BELIEVE.
I THINK THE WAY FORWARD, OF
COURSE, AS A COUNTRY TOGETHER IS
TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS HISTORY
BEFORE YOU MOVE FORWARD.
IT DOESNT MEAN YOU HAVE TO STAY
THERE FOREVER.
YOU NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT, AND
REMEDY THE PAIN, EITHER THROUGH
REPARATIONS OR OTHER MEANS, AND
THEN YOU CAN MOVE ON TOGETHER.
AND THAT HAS TO BE PART OF OUR
AMERICAN STORY MOVING FORWARD,
OR IT WILL COME BACK TO HAUNT US
IN FORMS LIKE DONALD TRUMP AND
OTHER WAYS WE HAVENT EVEN
IMAGINED.
>> THE FIRST STEP TO
ACKNOWLEDGING THAT HISTORY IS
LEARNING THE HISTORY.
I WENT TO A VERY GOOD PUBLIC
HIGH SCHOOL IN AMERICA AND WAS
NOT TAUGHT ABOUT THE TULSA RACE
MASSACRE THAT TOOK PLACE A
HUNDRED YEARS AGO TODAY.
PRESIDENT BIDEN TRAVELING TO
SULS A WHERE HELL MAKE A
SPEECH, NOT JUST CEREMONIAL,
HES ALSO GOING TO INTRODUCE
SOME NEW POLICY CHANGES THAT GET
AT THE ROOT OF WHAT HAPPENED
THAT DAY.
>> AND WHAT YOU SAID, WILLIE IS
THE MAIN EVENT.
THE IDEA THAT THIS IS A SHAMEFUL
AND FORGOTTEN MOMENT IN AMERICAN
HISTORY, ONE THAT I DIDNT LEARN
ABOUT IN SCHOOL, EITHER.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS NOT
BEEN GIVEN AT ALL THE ATTENTION
THAT IT DESERVES.
THE PRESIDENT HAS SOME POLICY
HES GOING TO ANNOUNCE IN TULSA
TODAY.
FEDERAL INITIATIVES TO TRY TO
ADDRESS THE DISPARITIES AND THE
VALUE OF BLACK-OWNED HOMES.
TRY TO HELP OUT BLACK HE HAVE
OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES.
AS MUCH AS AS IT IS ABOUT THE
POLICY, ITS ABOUT GIVING THE
PRESIDENTIAL SPOTLIGHT.
JOE BIDEN WILL BE THE FIRST
PRESIDENT TO TRAVEL TO TULSA TO
MARK THE ANNIVERSARY OF THIS
MASSACRE.
HE WILL BE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE
PAIN FELT BY THE PEOPLE -- THE
SURVIVORS, YES, BUT ALSO THEIR
DESCENDANTS AND OTHERS IN THAT
COMMUNITY DISPLACED, WHO WERE
DESTROYED A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
WE KNOW THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN
SPEAKS ON THE TOPIC OF GRIEF AND
SHOWS EMPATHY LIKE NO OTHER
POLITICAL FIGURE IN AMERICAN
HISTORY.
AND WE SHOULD NOTE THE CONTRAST
BETWEEN HIS PREDECESSOR, WHO
JUST OVER A YEAR AGO, CHOSE
TULSA AS THE SITE OF HIS
COMEBACK RALLY AFTER THE KPAMD
PANDEMIC CAME IN AND WAS GOING
TO HAVE IT ON JUNETEENTH, EVEN,
A COMMEMORATION THAT MARKED THE
END OF SLAVERY.
THEY ACTUALLY CHANGED THE RALLY
BY A DAY.
BUT THATS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF
WHAT BIDEN IS TRYING TO DO
TODAY.
>> YOU KNOW, MARA, I LOVE HOW
YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT.
ACKNOWLEDGE THAT.
WE NEED TO AS A COUNTRY, WE NEED
TO UNDERSTAND THIS.
SO MANY PEOPLE, WHEN THEY START