Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

The 98th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre was the topic of discussion for U.S. Senator for Oklahoma James Lankford last week on the Senate Floor. He also spoke about the massacre at the John Hope Franklin Center in Tulsa.

The John Hope Franklin Symposium is a National Symposium on Reconciliation where people from across the nation to learn the lessons Tulsa's history has to offer.

"We should continue to remember our own history," Sen. Lankford said, "Studying history like the conversation about D-Day this week - looking back 75-years ago at the tyranny and what was happening in Europe - is helpful for us to not only be grateful for those folks who literally laid down their lives for our freedom, but also to learn the lessons of tyranny in Europe.

Sen. Lankford said it is no different when looking back at the 98th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre that took place last week. He said the Race Riot was one of the worst in the nation and he said the nation needs to see the significance of North Tulsa.

Explaing the history of the Tulsa Race Riots, Sen. Lankford said Dick Rowland was put into a Tulsa jail shortly after riding in an elevator at the Drexel Building with a white woman named Sarah Page. While Rowland was in jail, a lynch mob dropped by and demanded for his release. A scuffle eventually broke out at the scene.

From their white rioters made their way to the Greenwood District, which was several blocks north from the jail. The Greenwood District - as history has shown - was burnt to the ground.

"It was a terrible day for us," Sen. Lankford said, "But there are lessons to be learned. Two years from now on the May 31st, 2021 will be the 100th Anniversary of that riot. When that occurs, the entire nation will pause for a moment - just for a moment - and will look at Tulsa to ask the qustion: 'What have we learned 100-years later?'"

The Senator believes that it is a reasonable question for the nation to ask. Someday soon, Sen. Lankford said, the nation will be able to see the lessons of race, reconciliation, friendship, cooperation and economic partnership. He said that will be very beneficial to us all.