By Jessica DiNapoli (Reuters) – The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma announced on Tuesday his support for a plan aimed at providing reparations to survivors and descendants of the 1921 race massacre in the city. Previous attempts to secure compensation for victims had faltered, leading to a renewed push for justice.
Efforts by survivors of the brutal attack by a white mob on Black Americans to seek reparations through state and local courts had hit roadblocks. The U.S. Department of Justice, in a statement in January, acknowledged reports implicating law enforcement in the incident but cited legal limitations preventing prosecution due to the passage of time and the advanced age of potential suspects.
Justice for Greenwood, a non-profit organization, unveiled a new strategy at a press conference on Tuesday, coinciding with a backdrop of federal policies under President Donald Trump scaling back diversity initiatives. Mayor Monroe Nichols, the first Black person to hold the mayoral office in Tulsa, expressed his commitment to implementing key aspects of the reparations plan, emphasizing his administration’s goal to address the enduring trauma caused by the massacre.
In the weeks ahead, the mayor’s office is expected to reveal specific elements of the plan to be endorsed. Among the proposals are granting preferential treatment to victims’ descendants for municipal employment and contracts, exemption from city taxes, and conducting an audit to investigate potential instances of land acquisition by the city through illegitimate means during or after the massacre.
Damario Solomon-Simmons, the executive director of Justice for Greenwood, anticipated resistance to the plan but remained confident in its legal robustness. He underscored the inclusive nature of the initiative, noting that white victims of the massacre could also stand to benefit from the proposed reparations.
(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New York; editing by Donna Bryson and Aurora Ellis)
