♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, tulsa's buried truth. a painful history comes to light. >> they kept that silence to live. >> why the massacre of black americans and the burning of black wall street remained hidden for decades. >> we would pass by oak lawn cemetery. i wondered, what's over there? >> who do you think should pay for reparations in this instance? plus the one where the friends get together again. >> the cast of "friends"! >> the homecoming over 17 years in the making. we're with the cast. >> i'm the most like joey? >> i don't think that's true. >> i look just like him. >> what's in store for the gang of six who will always be there for you? >> check this, i didn't cry

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♪ good evening, everyone. thanks so much for joining us. i'm linsey davis. buried for 100 years in tulsa.

the remains of a bloody past. a community of black americans once prosperous and thriving in the city killed by the evils of racism. here's abc's steve osunsami with the descendents seeking justice, and we caution you, some of the images you're about to see may be disturbing. >> this is oak lawn cemetery here in tulsa where it was long believed that there were 18 black men from the tulsa riot who were killed, who were buried here, but no one could ever find their bodies. the people who are buried here one day walked out of their home, disappeared, and were never seen again. >> reporter: brenda alford is a daughter of tulsa and has lived with this mystery her whole life. >> i am the granddaughter of black wall street entrepreneurs and race massacre survivors james and bacinda nells senior,

proud owners of the nells brothers shoe shop and record shop, 121 north greenwood avenue. >> reporter: she says she remembers her grandparents and their friends whispering about the people who disappeared and were never found. >> family members would come to town to visit. usually we would pass by oak lawn cemetery. and the comment would always be made, "you know they're still over there." and everyone in the car would agree. >> reporter: what happened here 100 years ago is only becoming clear today. the black families who lived in the greenwood neighborhood were under attack. it was america's racism on full display. a mob of white neighbors were here on the black side of town shooting proud black families dead. >> airplanes above us. the bullets raining down all around us. >> reporter: and somehow, over the many years, both the white mob and their black victims, seen here with the guns at their backs, kept the massacre a

secret. but times have changed. >> wall street! our street! >> reporter: the truth time in the streets that took off with the murder of george floyd has people now asking, how do you return to the black families of tulsa what racism stole so long ago? >> no justice, no peace! >> reporter: the greenwood neighborhood in tulsa, oklahoma, was the pride and joy of america's former slaves in 1921. the shops and businesses did so well, they called it "black wall street." but there was resentment living on the other side of the railroad tracks that divided the city. in the white neighborhoods, they like to call greenwood "little africa." the evening of may 30th was the beginning of the "whitelash." that's when dic roland, a 19-year-old black shoe shiner, needed to use the so-called colored restroom downtown. it was on the top floor ofhebui

sarah in charge of the elevator. >> we think as dick walked on the elevator, he tripped, he automatically threw his hands out to break his fall, that he might have hooked his hand on sarah page's dress, that it tore. she screamed and he ran out of the elevator. >> reporter: a white store clerk who heard her scream told police that dick roland attacked her. they arrested him the next day. >> the "tribune" published an article entitled "nab negro for attacking girl in an elevator." the piece had its desired impact in that it riled up white men in south tulsa. >> reporter: the word across town was that they were going to lynch this man. at the courthouse, the white men with guns were soon met by a much smaller group of black men with guns. then someone's gun went off. before it was all over, the racists would loot and burn black wall street. >> all i could see was black

rolling smoke down south, and the people going north. that was the whole breadth of the railroad track. >> reporter: the law, they never held anyone responsible for killing as many as 300 black americans. these painful images of burned black bodies were turned into postcards and were shared by white families. this one celebrates, quote, running the negro out of tulsa. 30 blocks of black homes and black excellence were burned to the ground in just 16 hours. what's even more difficult to understand is why the black americans who were victimized in all this, who stayed and rebuilt, made the decision to keep quiet about what happened. >> my name is

i am the granddaughter of eldoris, who is more famous as being a survivor of the tulsa race riot. they kept that silence to live. >> the people who survived this massacre had to live with the very people who burned down their homes? >> right. >> who executed members of their family? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> reporter: for very different reasons, many of the white people in tulsa also helped keep the massacre buried in the fog of aging memories. >> it was entirely deliberate. and as we have unearthed archival information, the recurring theme that you see in that is shame and embarrassment. >> reporter: g.t. bynum is the mayor of tulsa today. >> i grew up here in tulsa, my family has been here since the 1870s. and i first heard about the race massacre in 2001 or 2002.

>> reporter: people grew up here not learning about this in schools. and in 2019, state educators tried to include the history in public school curriculums. but oklahoma's governor recently signed new legislation that prevents educators from teaching history that could make any student feel guilty about their race. it becomes law july 1st. it doesn't make it any easier to tell the story about the massacre. >> we can and should teach this history without labeling a young child as an oppressor. >> reporter: mayor bynum is now promising to do his part to help right the old wrongs. but he's stopping short of saying that the city needs to pay these families for their losses. >> i do not believe that citizens who live in tulsa today should be monetarily punished through their taxes for something that people did 100 years ago. >> reporter: viola fletcher is 107 years old and the oldest

living survivor of the massacre. >> i will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. >> reporter: last week she and two other survivors told congress that they support efforts that would make it easier for the victims to be paid reparations. >> no one cared about us for almost 100 years. we and our history have been forgotten, washed away. this congress must recognize us and our history, for black america, for the white americans, and for all americans. >> reporter: the mayor says he wants to help these families another way, by leading the search for the missing victims. in october of 2020, the city's bulldozers uncovered the truth. they found at least a dozen missing bodies in this one corner of a city cemetery, and they are still searching for more. >> this is a murder investigation. one of the most basic things any

city government should offer its citizens is that if you're murdered, we will do everything we can to try and find out what happened to you, where your remains are, and who did it to you. >> reporter: there's a strong feeling here that the estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in generational wealth that was lost needs to be replaced. and that it's not enough to tell the stories of the survivors and families with a new history center that's going up, called "greenwood rising." >> anything that's 100 years is big money as you can see. but none of this money benefits me. and the bottom line is, i mean, if you want to go bottom line -- >> yeah, what is it? >> then the bottom line is, my great grandparents, who built wall street, they didn't get any money. my grandmother, who's in the smithsonian institute with her story, she didn't get any money. i didn't get any money.

so 100 years? i don't want to beg anybody for anything. >> who do you think should pay for reparations in this instance? >> let's start with the city and the state. i start with the two living survivors that we know of right in oklahoma. i will start with them before they die. >> what do you say to those people who will say, well, you know, i shouldn't have to pay for my father's sins. >> sins of the father, i understand. >> this was back then. people of today, why should they have to answer for yesterday? is it fair? >> because my son will not have the equal opportunity today that should have been afforded my grandparents then. >> reporter: the surviving families say it's not just about money. they could use a program that helps black businesses afford to stay in the neighborhood, or even vocational training for the young people here so they too can help build the new history center. >> you don't like the word

reparations? >> no, sir. >> you prefer the words? >> love offering. have a love offering. >> what is it you want me to not forget to tell america when we do this? >> that this is not just ancient history. you know, something so far back across the generations that you can't feel and touch the people. it's difficult to have to have lived through that. it's hard now. >> our thanks to steve osunsami. the abc news documentary "tulsa's buried truth" is now streaming on hulu. coming up, the reunion with a few familiar friends. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are getting clearer. ♪ ♪ i feel free to bare my skin yeah, that's all me. ♪ ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand nothing on my skin, ♪

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♪ back after a long hayat does, the cast of what many consider to be a must-see tv show, "friends." the six buddies sitting down with "20/20" anchor amy robach with a sneak peek at a long-awaited sitcom reunion aptly named "the one where they get back together." ♪ friends theme music ♪ >> reporter: 10 years and 236 episodes later, the one we've all been waiting for. >> where's the tissue box? >> reporter: "friends" is back for a reunion more than 25 years after its premiere. >> no one had to be convinced. we all wanted to do it. >> reporter: abc news sitting down exclusively with david

schwimmer, matthew perry, matt leblanc, jennifer aniston, courteney cox, and lisa kudrow in the leaduptomorrow's big reunion on hbo max. >> the truth is, i didn't cry walking onto the set. >> then we cried. >> today you can't stop her. >> now i can't stop, today i can't stop. delay. i'm on delay. >> the cork has been pulled, the floodgates opened. >> reuniting this cast again, i knew it was going to be really seriously emotional experience, and it has been. >> we were on the brink! >> reporter: the stars sharing what it was like to finally get together with all six cast members in the same room for the first time since that 2004 finale. >> let's do it, come on! >> what do you hope fans walk away with after they watch this reunion special? >> i hope the fans walk away with a sense of wa it was like for us to have made the show. >> we're equally excited to be finally doing it, and hopefully to give something back, and you

know, put a little laughter, a little love out there to everyone. >> does courtney still have her lines written on the table? >> we've literally just slipped right back. >> reporter: the comedy about six 20-somethings living in new york city became a cultural sensation. america's number one comedy show for a decade. >> i just want to be married again. >> don't worry, you guys, we're going tot you out of there! >> reporter: the show's final episode breaking records -- with more than 50 million viewers, the most-watched episode of television in the 2000s. >> this is harder than i thought it would be. >> oh, it's going to be okay. >> reporter: for millions, it was the laughter, love, and heartbreak shared by monica, chandler, phoebe, joe, and on again, off again couple ross and rachel. the cast sharing some of their favorite moments with me. >> look at me! i'm chandler! could i be wearing any more clothes?

>> anyone have a favorite episode? >> the one where everybody finds out chandler and monica were having a -- having an affair. >> she knows! >> look, i did love the one where everybody finds out. >> yes. >> because i had very fun things to do. >> right. >> oh my god! oh my god! my eyes, my eyes! >> phoebe, phoebe! >> reporter: monica's iconic living room, the center of the show, appearing almost unchanged since the show's beginning. >> to see it exactly the way it was, literally besides the cookie jar that lisa took home -- >> and the neon coffee thing. >> that jen took. besides that, it was exactly the same. and it was so emotional that we just started crying. >> reporter: the cast maintaining that tight bond all these years, regularly going viral online whenever some of them got together. >> who among you is the most like your character? and who among you is the least

like your character? >> lisa's the least. >> least. >> matt leblanc the most? >> oh! well, you know. i mean, minus the clueless part. >> minus the clueless part. >> matt is that kind of fiercely loyal, very affectionate, and like your brother. >> the ladies told me that they thought that the person who was most like their character was you, matt. would you agree with that? >> i'm the most like joey? >> yeah. >> i don't think that's true. >> i look just like him. >> no, that's not what she means. >> okay. >> turns out you're right. >> i don't know, that's a compliment, i guess. why, that's good acting. >> i know you can't give away any secrets but can't you give us an idea of what we're going to see? >> there's fun stuff. >> entertaining surprises. >> yeah, there's a lot of fun surprises. >> but we're not -- we're not in character, we're ourselves, kind of revisiting and enjoying the memories from the show. >> reporter: hollywood a-listers, including reese witherspoon, brad pitt, and

bruce willis, appearing as special guest stars. >> the actors that were film actors that came in was that they were alters guide. >> reporter: after a year of so much change, that familiarity and comfort in a reunion so many of us have been waiting for. >> we wanted to do ate year ago to give back to everyone, to all the fans, especially in the dark times we were all experiencing. hopefully it will cheer the same folks up. >> is there something that you're hoping you take away from this? >> we're hoping to get picked up for another season. >> all right. >> no, no. you don't understand. >> matt doesn't understand what we're doing. >> i'm the mt like joey, be quiet. >> he doesn't understand what we're doing. >> "friends: the reunion" will be available on hbo max on thursday. up next, making history in the white house briefing room. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible

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a little preparation will make you and your family safer in an emergency. a week's worth of food and water, radio, flashlight, batteries and first aid kit are a good start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com ♪ and finally tonight, this headline from washington. corinne jean pierre, the principal deputy press secretary

for the white house, breaking barriers today, becoming the first openly gay spokesperson in history and the first black woman in decades briefing on behalf of the president. >> i appreciate the historic nature, i really do. but i believe that, you know, being behind this podium, being in this room, being in this building, is not about one person. it's about, you know what we do >> another glass ceiling shattered. that's "nightline." you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right it's time for sleep number's memorial day sale on the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it's the most comfortable, body-sensing, automatically-responding, energy-building, dually-adjustable,