Tulsa city council given ideas for race massacre reparations

After collecting community feedback in 2023, the city is considering if and how to give reparations to Tulsans affected by the 1921 Race Massacre.

A white mob in 1921 destroyed the Greenwood Avenue neighborhood in Tulsa, known as Black Wall Street. The mob is believed to have killed as many as 300 Tulsans in the massacre.

Through feedback sessions last year, 83 Tulsans shared their perspectives on the race massacre. The survey was spurred by Tulsa’s 2021 resolution to explore avenues for possible reparations.

Financial compensation, community and economic development, and housing and home ownership were the most widely mentioned solutions for descendants of massacre survivors, or people affected by the event.

The study was conducted through Standpipe Hill Strategies, whose director Greg Robinson said repatriations make financial sense for Tulsa.

“How much it costs to see the widening gaps, that are widening, versus what could be the economic benefit if you began to intentionally close those — that is a conversation that, I would posit, is a much more fair way to look at this,” Robinson said.

Robinson was joined by Greater Tulsa African American Affairs Commission chairwoman Kristi Williams and members of OSU-Tulsa.

City councilor Lori Decter Wright said the process is as important as the outcome.

“The process is about earning trust, it’s about centering people closest to the harm, and really listening,” she said.

Decter Wright and Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, who represents the area destroyed in the massacre, led the efforts to collect community feedback. Hall-Harper noted many local governments across the country have explored if and how to give reparations to communities they have harmed.

The city is currently fighting litigation from the two living massacre survivors, who accuse the massacre of creating a public nuisance. The city would likely be requested to pay millions of dollars in reparations to the survivors if it loses the lawsuit.

While Mayor G.T. Bynum has opposed cash reparations for the survivors, he has supported the resolutionthat prompted the survey.

The presenters spoke to Bynum on Wednesday afternoon, and plan to present to the public at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the 36th Street North Event Center.

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