Dreams of Black Wall Street

Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied (1x12)

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Despite thousands of potential perpetrators of numerous crimes and potentially hundreds or thousands of witnesses to these crimes, law enforcement officials did not pursue any of them with any real vigor in search of the truth. As a result the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre never got their justice. The life of one of the victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 is an example of the consequences of these actions - or lack thereof by law enforcement officials in Tulsa and Oklahoma. That man, born John the Baptist Stradford, was born a slave in Kentucky. Stradford was a graduate of Oberlin College and Indiana Law School. The J. B. Stradford family moved to Tulsa, OK, in 1899. J. B. became one of the richest African American's in Tulsa. Stradford became known as one of the pioneers of Tulsa. He owned the Stratford Hotel located at 301 North Greenwood. Following the Tulsa Race Massacre, Stradford was one of the few people charged in connection with the attack. He ultimately fled Tulsa and moved to Chicago where his son was living and working as an attorney. He lost just about everything he had in the Massacre. Although he owned several businesses in Chicago, he never amassed the amount of wealth he had in Tulsa. Additionally, the charge hung over him for the rest of his life. In 1996 Stradford was posthumously cleared of the charge of rioting thanks to years long efforts by his descendants.