MSNBC analyst on Tulsa massacre: White Americans 'tend to be very good at forgetting history'

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MSNBC analyst Mara Gay claimed Tuesday that White Americans "tend to be very good at forgetting history" as she discussed the 1921 massacre of Black people in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The left-wing analyst and member of The New York Times editorial board failed to provide specific examples to support her claim as she argued that "the American experiment" is more complicated and less inclusive than people want to believe, and called for healing "through reparations or other means."

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Gay stated the story of the massacre was "challenging" for several reasons, describing one of them as the "very harsh, difficult history" surrounding the event still being prescient today because there are still living survivors. She added to the horror of the event itself as she illustrated the act of hundreds of Black World War I veterans being placed in "the equivalent of local concentration camps," with some being lynched.

"The other reason this is an important story is because I think Americans, especially White Americans, but Americans in general, tend to be very good at forgetting history, but also tend to think that slavery was a very long time ago and that discrimination was a very long time ago. The reality is not — that’s just not the case," she said, without giving any specific examples to reinforce her claim. 

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She also stated Tulsa was not the only town in America where an event like this happened.

 "It doesn’t mean that the American experiment is for naught. What it means is that it’s far more complicated and has been far less inclusive than we want to believe," she added.

"I think the way forward, of course, as a country together is to acknowledge this history before you move forward. It doesn’t mean you have to stay there forever," Gay said. "It means you need to acknowledge it, and you need to remedy the pain, whether it's through reparations or other means, and then you can move on together."

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Gay's claims echoed an increased focus on the Tulsa massacre, in which a White mob attacked an area once referred to as "Black Wall Street." President Biden will visit the city Tuesday to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the atrocity and announce new racial inequity policies.

The death count from the massacre is unknown, with estimates ranging from 37 to 300.

Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this report.