Biden visits Tulsa to honor victims of 1921 race massacre – US politics live

3.20pm BST15:20

The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:

Conservative activists across America are pushing efforts to review the 2020 vote more than six months after the election, a move experts say is a dangerous attempt to continue to sow doubt about the results of the 2020 election that strikes at the heart of America’s democratic process.

Encouraged by an ongoing haphazard review of 2.1m ballots in Arizona, activists are pushing to review votes or voting equipment in California, Georgia, Michigan, and New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, the powerful speaker of the state house of representatives recently hired ex-law enforcement officers, including one with a history of supporting Republicans, to spend the next three months investigating claims of fraud. At least one of the officers hired has a history of supporting GOP claims. The announcement also came after state officials announced they found just 27 cases of potential fraud in 2020 out of 3.3m votes cast.

The reviews are not going to change the 2020 election results or find widespread fraud, which is exceedingly rare. Nonetheless, the conservative activists behind the effort – many of whom have little election experience – have championed the reviews as an attempt to assuage concerns the 2020 election was stolen. If the probes don’t turn up anything, they will only serve to increase confidence in elections, proponents say.

3.03pm BST15:03

Joe Biden also released a statement yesterday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, calling on Americans to “recommit” to efforts to address systemic racism in the US.

“On this solemn centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, I call on the American people to reflect on the deep roots of racial terror in our nation and recommit to the work of rooting out systemic racism across our country,” Biden said in the statement.

The president noted that the federal government “must reckon with and acknowledge the role that it has played in stripping wealth and opportunity from Black communities”.

The Biden administration announced today a series of initiatives aimed at narrowing the racial wealth gap in the US, including efforts to support affordable housing and minority-owned small businesses.

Reflecting on the lives and businesses lost in Tulsa in 1921, Biden said yesterday, “We honor the legacy of the Greenwood community, and of Black Wall Street, by reaffirming our commitment to advance racial justice through the whole of our government, and working to root out systemic racism from our laws, our policies, and our hearts.”

2.48pm BST14:48

Ed Pilkington

The full-page advert in a special Black History edition of USA Today presents a technicolor vision of modern-day Tulsa, with sparkling images of public parks and brightly-painted murals celebrating the local Black community under the banner headline: “Tulsa Triumphs”.

“Tulsa is leading America’s journey to racial healing,” the text says, inviting visitors from across the US to sample the delights of Oklahoma’s second-largest city. The enticements include “an emotional opportunity for learning and reflection” and a “space for reconciliation… Tulsa triumphs, and you can be a part of this pilgrimage.”

The advert is a brazen attempt to turn Tulsa’s grim distinction as the setting of one of the most grotesque mass lynchings in US history into a tourist draw. It is the work of the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, a body of prominent state and city politicians and other local notables who have put together the city’s established version of the 100th anniversary of a very special day.

On that day, 31 May 1921, white Tulsans ran amok, shooting any Black person in sight, dropping incendiary devices from the air onto their homes and burning to the ground one of the most flourishing Black business districts in the country, known as “Black Wall Street”. Some 35 blocks of Black real estate in the Greenwood neighbourhood were destroyed.

At least 300 men, women and children were murdered. Over 24 hours, Tulsa witnessed what is thought to be the worst single event of white supremacist violence against African Americans in the nation’s history.

From the terror of 31 May 1921 to the “triumph” of 31 May 2021 – it makes for a powerful attraction for visitors. The only hitch with this depiction of Tulsa rising from the ashes is that from the perspective of the Black survivors and many of the descendants of the massacre, it has no bearing in reality.

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2.30pm BST14:30

Ahead of Joe Biden’s Tulsa trip, his administration also outlined how his American Jobs Plan will directly benefit communities of color.

The president’s proposal includes a $10 billion community revitalization fund that will help fund community-led infrastructure projects and a $15 billion grant program to bolster transportation infrastructure.

Biden has also called for the creation of a Neighborhood Homes Tax Credit to support the development of affordable housing and a $5 billion grant program to expand housing options for Americans with low or moderate incomes.

Finally, the president has indicated he would like to invest $31 billion to expand efforts to support minority-owned small businesses.

However, it is very unclear if any of these initiatives will make it into the final version of the infrastructure bill. Senate Republicans have proposed a $257 billion bill, much smaller than the $1.7 trillion infrastructure package that Biden is pushing, and it’s possible that proposals like those above may end up getting cut from the legislation.

The White House has just confirmed Biden will meet with Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito to discuss her team’s latest offer. That meeting will likely offer insight into the size and scope of the final bill.

2.12pm BST14:12

Biden to visit Tulsa to commemorate race massacre anniversary

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Joe Biden will travel today to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the city’s race massacre, which targeted affluent African Americans and their businesses.

Ahead of the president’s trip, the White House announced this morning a series of new initiatives aimed at narrowing the country’s racial wealth gap.

The administration pledged to take action to address racial housing discrimination and use its purchasing power to direct an additional $100 Billion to small disadvantaged business owners.

Viola Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre, testifies before the House on May 19. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The trip and the administration’s announcement come two weeks after three living survivors of the massacre — Viola Fletcher, Hughes Van Ellis and Lessie Evelyn Benningfield Randle — testified to Congress about the need to compensate massacre survivors and their descendants.

“I am here seeking justice,” Fletcher said at the House subcommittee hearing. “I am here asking my country to acknowledge what happened in Tulsa in 1921.”

The blog will have more details on the trip coming up, so stay tuned.

source: theguardian.com