The city of Tulsa has announced reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, when white rioters murdered an estimated 300 Black residents of the city’s Greenwood neighborhood, known as Black Wall Street, looting and destroying homes and businesses. A Justice Department report in January concluded the massacre was a “coordinated, military-style attack.” Despite that, no one was ever convicted or held criminally accountable. On Sunday, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols announced a $105 million reparations package during a ceremony commemorating the first-ever official Tulsa Race Massacre Observance Day.
Mayor Monroe Nichols: “This is not the age-old battle of Black versus white or the more contemporary battle of blue versus red. This is about putting those petty divisions and outdated thinking behind us as we press on together. This effort is about reconciliation. It is about repair. It’s about renewal, and it’s about righteousness.”