SPLC Action Fund Statement on President Trump’s Rally in Tulsa, Okla.

TULSA, Okla. — Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund President and Chief Executive Officer Margaret Huang released the following statement ahead of President Trump’s rally on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla. — the day after Juneteenth, near the 1921 massacre that left up to 300 Black people dead in the area once known as Black Wall Street. 

“President Trump’s address is not only disrespectful, it’s reprehensible. Black people in the U.S. are suffering from centuries of white supremacy and their pain should not be used as a political stunt. 

“President Trump knew exactly what he was doing by using Juneteenth and Black Wall Street as a backdrop for a rally as activists across the country protest police brutality against Black lives. As we commemorate Juneteenth and grieve the lives of Black people killed by police and vigilantes, we must not be distracted by an exercise in demagoguery. Our task is to stay focused on dismantling white supremacy and the systems of oppression that undermine justice.”