The new mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has called for reparations for an event that occurred more than 100 years ago. The proposed $100 million private trust seeks to give descendants of those involved in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre scholarships and housing.
“For 104 years, the Tulsa Race Massacre has left a wound on the very soul of our city – hampering progress, opportunity, and hope. And while we can’t undo the past, we can seek righteousness in this moment,” Mayor Monroe Nichols (D) said. “That’s why earlier today, I announced the creation of the Greenwood Trust – a private charitable trust that will raise and direct $105 million (raised by this time next year) toward affordable housing, historic preservation, economic development, and education for descendants of the Race Massacre and the residents of Greenwood and North Tulsa.”
“This is not the final step in our road to repair, but it’s a start – and a start that brings to bear what we’re able to do right now, which is to create an avenue and a funding source for our reconciliation efforts in response to the needs the community has identified over the last several years,” he explained.
The announcement follows a Democratic effort to revive legislation calling for federal reparations. In May, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) reintroduced the “Reparations Now Resolution,” which seeks trillions of dollars in compensation to Black Americans who are descendants of slaves, reigniting debate over racial justice and government spending.
Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) said upon Lee’s announcement, “We say to the rest of America: If you are truly committed to justice, as you try to say you are, you cannot look away. You cannot turn your back on the demand for reparations, because until there is repair, there will be no justice. And where there is no justice, we will continue to fight. We’re not going anywhere. We are awake. We are organized, and we will win. Reparations now.”
