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A century after #TulsaRaceMassacre, city creates #reparations cmte
A commission will study how reparations could be made to victims of the 1921 #violence, & #Oklahoma archaeologists discover new sets of human remains.
>1 century after one of the worst incidents of #RacialViolence in #US #history left scores of #Black people dead in #Tulsa, mayor announced the city will form a commission to study how reparations could be made to survivors & descendants.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/08/04/tulsa-race-massacre-reparations-remains/
The announcement was followed by news that an #Oklahoma archaeology team had exhumed another set of human remains w/a gunshot wound—a haunting reminder of the mob #violence that ripped through 35 square blocks of what was once a wealthy #Black community. The remains were the 3rd set w/a gunshot wound discovered since scientists began excavating a cemetery in 2020 to identify the #TulsaRaceMassacre’s victims.
#justice #law #racism #WhiteSupremacy #GenerationalWealth #BlackWallStreet #reparations
The developments come after decades of debate over how — if at all — #reparations should be doled out to victims & their families for the #violence that has limited the economic advancement of generations of #Black Tulsans. During the 1921 massacre, a White mob destroyed #Greenwood, an all-Black community nicknamed #BlackWallStreet, leaving as many as 300 Black people dead & 10k homeless.
“Our fellow Tulsans were murdered, their homes & businesses torched, their bodies buried in unmarked graves so their loved ones couldn’t find them,” #Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum (R) said at a news conference Thurs. “And to this day, no one has ever been held to account for it. To call it an outrage does not do it #justice.”
The cmte’s creation was prompted by a 2023 report by the city that recommended more than a half-dozen types of #reparations. Descendants of victims & #Tulsa residents said #educational opportunities — #scholarships & #tuition assistance — & direct payments were the most crucial, acc/to the report.
The cmte, called the Beyond Apology Commission, will forge a plan for a #HousingEquity prgm meant to benefit survivors, their descendants & residents of North Tulsa…
Bynum, who will select the cmte members, has previously demurred on the idea of financial #reparations.
In 2020, he told #Tulsa-based TV station that distributing cash payments “divides the community on something that we really need to be united around.” Debate over compensation led to the cancellation of an event commemorating the bloodshed the next year.
On Thurs, Bynum said he wants the cmte to explore types of reparations beyond cash payments.
“We’re not just establishing a study group,” he said at the news conference, adding that he wants city funds to promote #homeownership “& advance the goal of creating intergenerational wealth” among the massacre’s descendants. Other states & cities have created groups to decide on #reparations for #Black residents, including #Boston, #DC & #Chicago. A task force established by the #California state legislature recommended billions in reparations last year….