joint session of congress, according to the intelligence community, terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. not isis, not al-quaida, white supremacists. that s not me. that s the intelligence community. [applause] under both trump and under my administration. two weeks ago i signed in to law the covid-19 hate crimes act that the house and senate passed. my administration will lay out our broader strategy to counter domestic terrorism and the violence with hate crimes and other forms of bigotry. i m going to close where i started. to mother randall, mother fletcher, mr. van ellis, to the decendents and all survivors, thank you. thank you for giving me the honor of spending some time with you earlier today. thank you for your courage. thank you for your commitment.
i met mother randall, who is only 56 years old. god love her. and mother fletcher, who s 67 years old. and her brother, her brother van ellis is 100 years old. he looks like he s 60. thank you for spending so much time with me. i really mean it. it was a great honor, a genuine honor. you have three known remaining survivors of a story seen in the mere dimly, now your story will be in full view. the event took place 100 years ago, yet i m the first president in 100 years to ever come to tulsa.
star piercing the audience, a bright light coming down on mother fletcher, 107 years old, sergeant ellis, 100 years old and mother randall, 106 years old, three living survivors and their descendents. they had never had the commander in chief, the highest office in this land speak to the brutality and the unbelievable death and murder that occurred in greenwood. i m not only in tulsa, but i ve worked the ground of what was greenwood. i ve seen what the oklahoma state university is there put that land and other places. they literally just took the land. the descendents have been scattered. the message of this president the commander in comfort, the commander in racial equity is, i think, a major statement to the nation really to say to all
and finally, we have to and finally, we must address what remains the stain on the soul of america. what happened in greenwood was an act of hate and domestic terrorism. with the throughline that exists today still. just close your eyes. remember what you saw in charlottesville four years ago on television. neo-nazis, white supremacists, the kkk coming out of those fields at night, virginia, with lighted torches, the veins bulging on them as they were screaming. remember? just close your eyes and picture what it was. well, mother fletcher said when she saw the insurrection at the capitol on january 9th, it broke her heart. a mob of violent white extremists, thugs, said reminded her of what happened here in greenwood a hundred years ago. look around at the various hate
only a with truth. facing it. but that isn t enough. first, we have to see, hear, and give respect to mother randall, mother fletcher and mr. van ellis. all those lost so many years ago, all the descendants, for this community, that s why we re here, to shine the light, to make sure the story is known in full. may, 1921, formerly enslaved black people and their descendants are here in tulsa, a boomtown, a new opportunity on a