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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Tulsa mayor unveils reparation plan to 'repair' community at center of 1921 Race Massacre
The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma has unveiled a reparations plan for the descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre as well as the neighborhood area once known as "Black Wall Street" on the first official remembrance day for the massacre. Mayor Monroe Nichols' plan, dubbed "Road to Repair," centers around a private trust tasked with raising $105 million in assets before June 1, 2026, the 105th anniversary of the massacre. "The pursuit for better defines greatness - a people that will look back 104 years and dare to be better - dare to come together to face a complicated past and commit to each other for a better future," Nichols said in a speech Sunday. Along with the trust, Nichols announced the release of 45,000 historic documents related to the massacre. "For us as a city, we want to model that we are a partner that wants to foster a level of trust with this entire community," Nichols, the first Black mayor of Tulsa, told USA TODAY in an interview Monday, June 2. "The massacre has always loomed as an event that really isn't rooted in a lot of trust over the years, and releasing the documents is one of the things, along with making the Tulsa Race Massacre Day of Observance, I think are really important." Nichols said in the interview that the Trust was a way to take the conversation out of the political realm. "Let's model for everybody on how this repair work can be really restorative for the entire community, and let's do that as best we can outside the political context," Nichols said. "If it's good for all of us, well, maybe public policy can now follow something that's been a model good for everybody." Under the plan, a housing fund will receive $24 million dollars from the trust for housing and homeowner benefits for Race Massacre descendants. A cultural preservation fund will have $60 million to reduce blight and implement parts of a master plan for the Kirpatrick and Greenwood neighborhoods in North Tulsa and a legacy fund will receive $21 million to develop trust owned land and fund scholarships for descendants and economic development grants for the area. The mayor added that the trust's work provided an opportunity for parts of the "descendant community" that left Tulsa to be reconnected to the city. "There's a lot of families that, after the massacre, decided Tulsa was not the place for them," Nichols said. "The goal is a scholarship, for example, to go to school in the state of Oklahoma, to come to school here and we will pay the cost of education. The goal, with the business grants and no interest loans, is to open a business here in Tulsa, in the Greenwood District, or North Tulsa, to bring back those great entrepreneurs and business owners whose families may have left Tulsa because of what happened in 1921." The trust – named the Greenwood Trust for the neighborhood where the massacre took place in – will employ an executive director and fundraising staff, paid by private funding. Nichols said in a statement that the first year of the trust would focus on planning and fundraising. "The next step is now we're going to make these investments so it's not just symbolic," Nichols told USA TODAY. "We're going to come behind that and make the investments necessary to show that not only are we recognizing (the massacre) but we're also showing that we're a much different community in 2025 than we were in 1921." In the early 1900s, 40 blocks to the north of downtown Tulsa boasted 10,000 residents, hundreds of businesses, medical facilities an airport and more. But on May 31, 1921, a white mob descended on Greenwood – the Black section of Tulsa – burning, looting, and destroying more than 1,000 homes. The massacre is reported to have started with an accusation that Dick Rowland, a 19-year-old shoe-shiner, assaulted a white female teenager in an elevator. Decades later, the 2001 Tulsa Race Riot Commission concluded, Sarah Page, 17, was interviewed by police but made no allegations of assault. Rowland was arrested and white men went to the jail to demand that he be released to "face mob justice," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a speech launching a long-awaited Department of Justice probe into the massacre in 2024. A fight broke out after members of the Black community showed up to protect Rowland from being lynched. A mob then invaded Greenwood, looting and destroying businesses and homes. Tulsa authorities deputized some white men, instructing them to "get a gun and get busy and try to get" a Black person, according to witness accounts and records at the time. The Oklahoma National Guard participated in mass arrests of nearly everyone living in Greenwood. "Some suspect that the aim of the white mob was, all along, to appropriate the wealth of the Black community and that the allegations against Mr. Rowland were merely an excuse," Clarke said. The true death toll of the massacre may never be known, with the search for unmarked graves continuing more than a century later. Most historians who have studied the event estimate the death toll to be between 75 and 300 people. In January, the department said that while there are credible reports that law enforcement was involved in the attack, it had no avenue to prosecute the crimes. The department cited the expiration of relevant statutes of limitations and the youngest potential defendants being more than 115 years old. Contributing: Dale Denwalt, Minnah Arshad – USA TODAY Network; Reuters This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Black Wall Street' reparations plan unveiled by Tulsa mayor
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Tulsa plans $105m in reparations for America's 'hidden' massacre
"The Tulsa Race Massacre has been a stain on our city's history... hidden from history books," Nichols said. That tragedy, he said, was compounded by economic harms that followed, namely the building of a highway "to choke off economic vitality", "perpetual underinvestment" and "intentional acts of redlining", where black people were denied home and property loans. "Now it's time to take the next big steps to restore," Nichols said. The plan is called Road to Repair and its funds will be managed by the Greenwood Trust. It seeks to have $105m in assets either secured or committed by 1 June, some of which would also go into a legacy fund for the trust to acquire and develop land. Nichols said the proposal would not require city council approval. The council would, however, authorise the transfer of any city property to the trust, which he said was very likely. The Greenwood Trust borrows its name from Tulsa's Greenwood District, a once-prosperous black neighbourhood with an economy so thriving that it was dubbed Black Wall Street. That all changed in May 1921, when a white mob burned it to the ground, destroying more than 1,000 homes and structures in less than 24 hours. An estimated 300 black residents were killed and many more injured. The event "robbed Tulsa of an economic future that would have rivalled anywhere else in the world", Nichols said in a phone interview. For decades the story of the massacre was largely erased from history, but it was thrust into the spotlight in 2020 when then-President Donald Trump announced he would hold an election rally in Tulsa on 19 June, or Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of slavery. He rescheduled the rally and his successor, Joe Biden, declared Juneteenth a national holiday. The Tulsa reparations will be made as Trump, now back in the White House, is ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in the US government and many major companies are abandoning or reducing their diversity initiatives. Tulsa's package is also the first large-scale plan that commits funds to addressing the impact of a specific racially motivated attack. Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, became the first city to make reparations available to its black residents in 2021, by offering qualified households money for expenses such as home repairs and down payments. Americans have long been divided over directly addressing past acts of racism, such as slavery, through paying reparations. In May, Maryland Governor Wes Moore - the state's first black governor - said he would veto a measure to create a commission for studying reparations in his state. Meanwhile, California last year apologised for past discrimination against black Americans and approved some reparations initiatives, but did not offer direct financial payments. The last two known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Ford Fletcher, lost a long court battle seeking reparations last summer.
New York Times
3 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
$105 Million Reparations Package for Tulsa Race Massacre Unveiled by Mayor
The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, one of the most horrific episodes of racial violence in U.S. history, killed up to 300 Black residents and destroyed a neighborhood. More than a century later, the city's mayor announced a $105 million reparations package on Sunday, the first large-scale plan committing funds to address the impact of the atrocity. Monroe Nichols, the first Black mayor of Tulsa, unveiled the sweeping project, named Road to Repair. It is intended to chip away at enduring disparities caused by the massacre and its aftermath in the Greenwood neighborhood and the wider North Tulsa area of Tulsa, Okla. The centerpiece of the project is the creation of the Greenwood Trust, a private charitable trust, with the goal of securing $105 million in assets — including private contributions, property transfers and possible public funding — by next spring, the 105th anniversary of the attack. The plan does not include direct cash payments to the two last known survivors of the massacre, who are 110 and 111 years old. But such payments could be considered by the trust's Board of Trustees, according to Michelle Brooks, a city spokeswoman. Mr. Nichols said a plan to restore Greenwood — a neighborhood that was so prosperous before the attack that it inspired the name Black Wall Street — was long overdue. 'One hundred and four years is far too long for us to not address the harm of the massacre,' Mr. Nichols said in an interview before the announcement. He added that the effort was really about 'what has been taken from a people, and how do we restore that as best we can in 2025, proving we're much different than we were in 1921.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
E&E News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Senate approves national monument for Tulsa race massacre
A bipartisan bill creating a national monument honoring a race massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, passed the Senate on Thursday. S. 1051, sponsored by Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford and New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, would create the 'Historic Greenwood District-Black Wall Street National Monument.' It passed by unanimous consent. The monument would honor the two-day 1921 massacre in the Greenwood District of Tulsa. A white mob, beginning on May 31, 1921, attacked, lynched and burned those who lived there following accusations that a Black man had assaulted a white woman in an elevator. The massacre is estimated to have killed as many as 300 people and devastated a thriving Black business community. Advertisement The bill would allow the Interior secretary to acquire land only through donations, exchange or purchase from a willing seller. Lankford has pushed for the designation for several years now.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Erie's Black Wall Street grew from social media to non-profit
'Your pathway to empowerment and prosperity in Erie's black community.' Non-profit organization Erie's Black Wall Street is that and so much more. As we close Black History Month, we sat down one-on-one with the co-founder to share their story. Three college friends had an idea that they never thought would blossom and change so many lives in Erie's black community. What started as a small Facebook group to connect with Erie's black community has grown into a tax-exempt, non-profit charitable organization in just seven years. Loving Giving Local: Erie's Black Wall Street Erie's Black Wall Street, an idea that was birthed from college friends Kyra Taylor, Angelica Spraggins and DaVona Pacley. 'A lot of us were not from Erie and so we wanted to create a community that we felt we didn't see here. We also wanted a way to connect with black-owned businesses and to see what black events were going on in the city,' said Kyra Taylor, executive director & co-founder of Erie's Black Wall Street. 'I don't think we ever thought that Erie's Black Wall Street would be what it is today so early.' Since 2018, the organization has served as an advocate for people of color and has helped to put people on the path to success. Something that Taylor said can be difficult to achieve in our region. She explained that statistics show Erie can be one of the worst places for black people to live. Erie's first black resident, Boe Bladen, the original owner of Glenwood Estates land 'The income disparities here were so high, the homeownership amongst black people we're even below the national levels,' she said. Taylor said homeownership in Erie County has been heavily influenced by their programs, the homeownership rate has increased from 1.9% to over 5.5%. Other services include entrepreneurial support ranging from workshops covering business fundamentals to financial aid. Their website also features a directory with over 40 local black-owned businesses. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'To be able to show our youth that hey we have an array of black-owned businesses here, we have very successful black people here and you can do something, you can build your dream,' Taylor said. Taylor expressed they have a responsibility to continue their work through collaboration. She said there's power in pooling resources, knowledge, connections and networks. And this Friday is their third annual Greenlight Awards Gala here at the Ambassador Center. It's a night dedicated to honoring the brilliance and resilience of local black-owned businesses. Their goal with the galas are to give people an experience. Erie City Streets Dept. trying to keep up with potholes during break in snowy weather This year Taylor told us they wanted to bridge the gap between African brothers and sisters and the black community. 'We wanted to make sure that we did right by our African culture,' she said. 'We're making history right here in our own city, in our own county.' If you would like more information about their services or how to get involved, you can visit their site here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
