[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"entity_embed\/caption,views\/views.ajax,views\/views.module","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__375543__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"375543","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/375543","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__375543__en","pager_element":0}}},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"0ae5601d8790ff50fca3cf23b9ac9170285f2f75823ebdc8d9cc054bc03a679b"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":"\u003Clink rel=\u0022stylesheet\u0022 media=\u0022all\u0022 href=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_reI-6YIYy-k9pvxm-gaCRrn5cSrTZRtyAMrp4YXDUJw.css\u0022 \/\u003E\n"},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_svkrpusmrjSaaV8heRnsa8-TbrEsMLumxMQD8vstdR8.js"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__375543__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__375543__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDreisen Heath is an advocate at Human Rights Watch and author of its May 2020 report, \u201c\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/05\/29\/case-reparations-tulsa-oklahoma\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Case for Reparations in Tulsa, Oklahoma: A Human Rights Argument\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u201d She delivered the following remarks during the \u201cI Too, Am America\u201d Juneteenth Rally for Justice in Tulsa\u2019s Greenwood neighborhood on June 19, 2020. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EI stand here today only because of the resolve of my ancestors, the relinquishing strength of my Tulsa family and friends, and the possibilities that we can break from the chains of injustice.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n \n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed align-right embedded-entity embedded-entity-type-block-content embedded-entity-bundle-block-hrw-row embedded-entity-viewmode-embeddable embed--right\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022block-hrw-row mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022block-hrw-row__bg-color\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022block-hrw-row__content text-gray-800 relative z-20 px-12 py-12 \u0022\u003E\n\n \n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022block-hrw-row__body rich-text font-sans text-2xl mt-3 block-hrw-row__id-\u0022\u003E\n \n \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022twitter-tweet\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022 lang=\u0022en\u0022 xml:lang=\u0022en\u0022 xml:lang=\u0022en\u0022\u003EHumbled and honored to hear my colleague \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/dreisenheath?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E@dreisenheath\u003C\/a\u003E speak at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Tulsa?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E#Tulsa\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Juneteenth?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E#Juneteenth\u003C\/a\u003E rally, on her own experience being born in Tulsa and the continued legacy of slavery+the 1921 race massacre. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ReparationsNow?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E#ReparationsNow\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/hrw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003E@hrw\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/t.co\/N3DmGIsjdX\u0022\u003Epic.twitter.com\/N3DmGIsjdX\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u2014 Ida Sawyer (@ida_sawyer) \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/ida_sawyer\/status\/1274135256275324929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\u0022\u003EJune 20, 2020\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003Cscript async=\u0022\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\u0022 charset=\u0022utf-8\u0022\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n \n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022 block-hrw-row__id-\u0022\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI was born here in Tulsa just down the road at Hillcrest Medical Center. My parents were patrons of Mt. Zion [Baptist Church], which is often pictured in smoldering flames as a result of the targeted and vile racist destruction of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/nowthisnews\/status\/1274326134361071622?s=20\u0022\u003E1921 Tulsa Race Massacre\u003C\/a\u003E. They tried to make a life for themselves here for several years and relied heavily on this resilient community to guide and nourish them. While my young parents did their best to provide their first child with the life that they had envisioned, they were forced to leave Tulsa because of homelessness and uncertainty.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EI would hear stories about Tulsa growing up. How welcoming the people were, the stark differences between \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/video-photos\/interactive\/2019\/09\/11\/policing-poverty-and-racial-inequality-tulsa-oklahoma\u0022\u003Eneighborhoods in north Tulsa versus south Tulsa\u003C\/a\u003E, the disappearance of \u201cBlack Wall Street,\u201d and the constant fear that came with walking the same streets as the KKK. Community members shared oral histories with my parents about the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/05\/29\/case-reparations-tulsa-oklahoma\u0022\u003Eaftermath of the Tulsa Race Massacre\u003C\/a\u003E; many said they never knew where their neighbors went and never heard from them again. The Black community in Greenwood was forcibly separated and displaced from one another, some never able to live to tell the tale of survival.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u2019d never imagine that what would eventually bring me back to Tulsa would be the continuation of the massacre. Human Rights Watch brought me back home, and not because Tulsa\u2019s Greenwood District was restored to the prosperous Black economic hub it once was, but because \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2019\/09\/12\/us-how-abusive-biased-policing-destroys-lives\u0022\u003Eoppressive and unchecked police violence\u003C\/a\u003E, a legacy of slavery and the massacre, stole the lives of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/tulsa-police-killed-my-brother-this-juneteenth-i-demand-justice-opinion-1512199\u0022\u003ETerence Crutcher\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.tulsaworld.com\/news\/joshua-harvey-died-after-an-encounter-with-tulsa-police-officers-13-months-ago-his-mother\/article_9570f3ef-6c14-51e5-aab6-392cded81c61.html\u0022\u003EJoshua Harvey\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.tulsaworld.com\/news\/local\/three-years-later-what-has-law-enforcement-changed-since-joshua-barre-was-fatally-shot\/article_3d8b0152-713d-5e93-83b8-0fd6489778ef.html\u0022\u003EJoshua Barre\u003C\/a\u003E, and too many others.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe legacy of slavery and the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2020\/06\/10\/us-covid-19-disparities-reflect-structural-racism-abuses\u0022\u003Epersistence of structural and other forms of racism\u003C\/a\u003E are like being stuck in quicksand. You will either sink because of no fault of your own, but because our institutions have been designed to pull you down, keep you under, and drown you out. Or you must save yourself from submersion, pulling yourself out a few inches at a time, but still feeling weighed down by the burdens of racial injustice.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile many of our ancestors were taken away from us, many others pulled themselves out of the quicksand of slavery and racial injustice. Let\u2019s be clear: The Emancipation Proclamation, a piece of paper, a declaration, did not set us free. Enslaved people were liberating themselves by the thousands and political interests followed thereafter. But while Juneteenth is a celebration of liberation, of freedom, obstacles to Black freedom in the United States still exist after 155 celebrations.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWhat is freedom if you can never escape the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eji.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/reconstruction-in-america-report.pdf\u0022\u003Eintergenerational traumas and impacts of slavery\u003C\/a\u003E? What is freedom when Black families have to relive the killings of their loved ones over and over by police, every time they utilize their power to take another innocent Black life? What is freedom when Black Tulsans live less than their white counterparts? What is freedom when wealth that was once established, was then stripped away deliberately and never paid back?\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIt is because of people and leaders in our community like \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/time.com\/5856248\/tiffany-crutcher-juneteenth-trump-rally\/\u0022\u003EDr. Tiffany Crutcher\u003C\/a\u003E, Kristi Williams, Chief Amusan, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/outlook\/2020\/06\/19\/tulsa-has-seen-horrific-racist-violence-trumps-visit-is-an-insult\/\u0022\u003EPastor Robert Turner\u003C\/a\u003E, Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, Attorney Damario Solomon Simmons, Greg Robinson, and Representative Regina Goodwin [several of whom are featured in this \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/06\/18\/politics\/tulsa-massacre-1921\/index.html\u0022\u003Earticle\u003C\/a\u003E], among others, that we can imagine and systematize what freedom actually looks like. Conditions in Black and brown communities must change, and Human Rights Watch is honored and so humbled to stand in solidarity with and lend our support to our heroes on the front lines of change.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EHealing and restoration are only possible if we use today and the rest of our days to address slavery\u2019s legacy head on. The pathway towards equality in Tulsa requires economic justice. It requires \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2020\/jun\/18\/trumps-visit-tulsa-spurs-renewed-call-1921-racial-massacre-reparations\u0022\u003Ereparations\u003C\/a\u003E for the massacre survivors and descendants and the broader Black community that have not yet seen economic opportunity. It requires targeted investments in the Black community in housing, education, employment, business development, and other forms of economic development. It requires an end to everyday \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2019\/09\/12\/us-how-abusive-biased-policing-destroys-lives\u0022\u003Eabusive policing and racial profiling\u003C\/a\u003E, and an end to the economic conditions that cause police to abuse their power.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ETulsa, while unique in the severity of its destruction, shares a similar past and present with many other cities across the United States. If we don\u2019t get it right in Tulsa, we will never be able to get it right.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThere may be distractions near and far, but we must never surrender. We must reclaim our freedom.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThank you.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null}]