Tulsa, Okla.
The plan of Mayor Monroe Nichols, the first black mayor of the second largest city in Oklahoma, would not provide direct payments in cash to the descendants or the last two centenary survivors of the attack that killed up to 300 black people. He made the announcement at the Greenwood Cultural Center, located in the district that was once northern Tulsa, which was destroyed by a white mafia.
Nichols said he does not use the repairs of the term, which he calls politically accused, characterizing his scanning plan as a “way to repair.”
“For 104 years, the Massacre of Tulsa’s career has been a stain in the history of our city,” Nichols said Sunday after receiving a foot ovation from several hundred people. “The massacre was hidden from history books, only to be followed by the intentional acts of Redling, a road built to drown economic vitality and perpetual insertion of local, state and federal governments.
“Now is the time to take the next great steps to restore.”
Nichols said the proposal would not require the approval of the City Council, although the Council would need to authorize the transfer of any property of the city to the trust, something that said it was very likely.
The private charitable trust would be created with the aim of ensuring $ 105 million in assets, with most of the insured or committed funds before June 1, 2026. Although the details would take place during the next year by an executive director and a Board of Managers, the Plan requires most of the funds, $ 60 million, to improve the buildings and revitalize the north side of the city.
“The Greenwood district at its peak was a trade center,” Nichols said in a telephone interview. “So, what was lost was not just something from northern Tulsa or the black community. Actually, he stole Tulsa an economic future that would have rivalized any other place in the world.”
Nichols’s proposal follows an executive order that signed earlier this year recognizing on June 1 as Tulsa Race Massacre observes Day, an official city holiday. The events on Sunday in the Greenwood district included a picnic for families, worship services and a watch of candlelight.
Nichols also realizes the current national political climate, particularly the wide assault of President Trump to the diversity, equity and inclusion programs, raises challenging crossed winds.
“The fact that this is aligned with a broader national conversation is a difficult environment,” Nichols admitted, “but does not change the work we have to do.”
Jacqueline Weary, is a granddaughter of the survivor of the massacre John R. Emerson, Mr., owner of a hotel and taxi in Greenwood that were destroyed. She recognized the political difficulty of giving cash payments to the descendants. But at the same time, he wondered how much his family’s wealth was lost in violence.
“If Greenwood was still there, my grandfather would still have his hotel,” said Weary, 65. “With Legra it was our inheritance, and was literally carried.”
Tulsa is not the first American city to explore repairs. The suburb of Evanston, Illinois, in Chicago, was the first city of the United States to make available to its black residents for past discrimination, offering to the qualified households $ 25,000 for home repairs, low payments in property and interest or late fines on properties in the city. The financing of the program came tax on the sale of recreational marijuana.
Other communities and organizations that have considered providing repairs range from the state of California to cities such as Amherst, Massachusetts; Providence, Rhode Island; Asheville, North Carolina; and the city of Iowa, Iowa; religious denominations such as the Episcopal Church; and prominent universities such as Georgetown University in Washington.
In Tulsa, there are only two live survivors of the race massacre, both 110 years: Leslie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher. The women, who attended Sunday, received a direct financial compensation from a non -profit organization based in Tulsa and a philanthropic organization based in New York, but have not received any reward from the city or the State.
Damario Solomon-Simmons, a lawyer for the survivors and founder of the Justice For Greenwood Foundation, said any repair plan must include direct payments to Randle and Fletcher and a compensation fund for victims for outstanding claims.
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma last year, rejected a lawsuit filed by Solomon-Simmons on behalf of the survivors, the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, cushioning the hopes of the defenders of racial justice that the city once will make financial amendment.
