In honour of the 100th anniversary of the racist massacre of the Greenwood neighborhood known as the Tulsa Race Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Vice President Harris hosted two of three known survivors at the Vice President's Ceremonial Office.

She met with Viola "Mother" Fletcher and Hughes "Uncle Red" Van Ellis who were young and children of victims at the time of the massacre. Vice President Harris heard their stories of how they have been living before, during and after the massacre. 

Viola "Mother" Fletcher and Hughes "Uncle Red" Van Ellis were last in Congress where they urge lawmarkers through their recollections and stories to bring change in ending racial crimes and racism in the country as well as better the living conditions of the African American communities and not have a repeat of the racial crimes done in the past.

The Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa also known as the Black Wall Street was a one of the country's thriving business district. 100 years ago, a white supremacist mob killed hundreds of Black residents. Black homes, businesses, and churches were burned down.

The origins of how the massacre happen has been whitewashed over the years but recollections from the survivors of the events which sparked the white mob to descend on Greenwood. It began with gunshots which were were fired outside a courthouse after a young, Black man was accused of assaulting a white, female elevator operator and had been arrested.

The innocent interaction was turned into a terrible headline allegation in the press of a Black male, teenager who attacked a white female teenager. During the court hearing crowds of white people gathered outside the court.

On the evening May 31st 1921, and into the following day, a mob of armed, white men destroyed and burned down the all-Black Greenwood neighborhood in Tulsa.

Amongst the atrocities of the day were: a mob tied a Black man by the waist to the back of their truck with his head banging along the pavement as they drove off. A murdered Black family draped over the fence of their home, outside. An elderly couple knelt by their bed, praying to God with their heart and their soul, when they were shot in the back of their heads, Private planes dropping explosives, the first and only domestic aerial assault of its kind on an American city, here in Tulsa.

This according to a 2001 commission reported the number killed was as high as 300 compared to the 35 which was reported by the State of Oklahoma. The 2021 commission found that an estimated $1.8 million in damages which renewed calls for reparations which would come out to more than $25 million in 2021. As many as 10,000 residents were displaced or put in internment camps after the massacre was painted as a "riot" to prevent Black businesses from collecting on insurance claims.

During his remarks in Greenwood, President Biden called for June to be "a month of action on Capitol Hill" on voting rights legislation. He also announced that he was appointing Vice President Kamala Harris to spearhead the administration's efforts to combat, what he called, "the assault on the right to vote."