Hughes Van Ellis, Tulsa Race Massacre survivor, dies at 102
Hughes Van Ellis, a survivor of the 1920 Tulsa Race Massacre, died on Monday. He was 102 years old.
Van Ellis was one of three remaining survivors of the massacre, along with his sister, Viola Fletcher. Van Ellis was only a baby when a mob of white Tulsans began burning homes and businesses in Greenwood, at the time known as “Black Wall Street.” Nearly 300 people were killed and more than 1,000 homes destroyed. It was one of the worst instances of violence perpetrated against Black people in U.S. history, according to The Associated Press.
Best deals of Prime Big Deal Days
BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission.
“My sister Viola told me, she said it was thought guns were going off,” Van Ellis told Scripps News in 2021. “Dad looked outside to see people getting gunshot, houses getting burned. So, there’s only six little kids. I was a baby. So, my father just managed to barely get out, just with the clothes on our backs. We didn’t have time to get nothing else together.”
Van Ellis, who was known as “Uncle Redd” and was a World War II veteran, was the youngest living survivor.
In 2021, he testified before Congress about what he and his family endured.
“Because of the Massacre, my family was driven from our home. We were left with nothing. We were made refugees in our own country,” Van Ellis said in his written testimony.
Van Ellis, his sister and Lessie Benningfield Randle, the other last living survivor, had filed a lawsuit demanding justice for the families and communities still living with the consequences of the racist attack 100 years ago.
“My childhood was hard and we didn’t have much. We worried what little we had would be stolen from us. Just like it was stolen in Tulsa,” Van Ellis testified. “You may have been taught that when something is stolen from you, you can go to the courts to be made whole. You can go to the courts to get justice. This wasn’t the case for us. The courts in Oklahoma wouldn’t hear us. The federal courts said we were too late.”
“We were made to feel that our struggles were unworthy of justice. That we were less valued than whites, that we weren’t fully American,” Van Ellis added. “We were shown that in the United States, not all men were equal under law. We were shown that when Black voices called out for justice, no one cared.”
In July, Oklahoma’s Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of the lawsuit filed by the last three survivors, after a lower court dismissed the case.
In his testimony before Congress, Van Ellis tearfully begged legislators “for justice for a lifetime of ongoing harm.”
“I still believe in America,” he said. “I still believe in the ideals that I fought overseas to defend. And I believe if given the chance you will do the right thing and justice will be served.”
But the litigation is ongoing as many wait to hear from the state Supreme Court.
In a statement, Damario Solomon-Simmons, who founded Justice For Greenwood and subsequently filed the lawsuit, said Van Ellis was “one of the fiercest and most inspiring champions for justice that we ever had the honor of knowing.”
“I’ll remember each time that Uncle Redd’s passionate voice reached hearts and minds in courtrooms, halls of Congress, and interviews,” said Solomon-Simmons. “Most of all, I’ll forever cherish the time we spent together behind the scenes. He was much more than a client. He was a partner in the quest for justice and reparations. He was a source of inspiration and strength during times of doubt and despair. He was family and I loved him. His presence will be sorely missed.”
Solomon-Simmons added that while he and the rest of the legal team representing the survivors are pleased the Oklahoma Supreme Court has agreed to hear their case, they are now “in a race against time.”
“Neither The City of Tulsa nor the Tulsa County Judicial system should be allowed to keep moving the finish line for the remaining survivors who have been fighting with their final breaths just to get their day in court,” Solomon-Simmons said. “For an incredible 102 years, Uncle Redd bore the weight of and pain from the continued harm of the Tulsa Race Massacre. We will continue the legacy he left behind: one of persistence in the face of struggle, of remembering and teaching our shared history, and fighting for what’s right so that all of us can be free.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
