President Joe Biden will visit Tulsa, Oklahoma, next week in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, the White House announced on Tuesday.
No other details were made immediately available about the trip slated for June 1.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of a race massacre in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, which encompassed more than 35 city blocks of entirely Black-owned businesses. A beacon for African Americans looking to escape the discrimination and violence of the Jim Crow South and live a peaceful and safe life, the district was founded by Black men and women — many of whom were descendants of slaves — and became known as Black Wall Street.
On May 31, 1921, racial tensions and violence with the neighboring White residents in Tulsa boiled over in a massacre. Hundreds of Greenwood’s Black residents were killed and the district was left in ashes.
The White House’s announcement of the visit came after Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met on Tuesday with the family of George Floyd on the one-year anniversary of his death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, sparking nationwide protests against racism and police brutality.
