Presented at the Left Forum Reparations Panel in New York City by Minton Brooks, a member of the NGO Committee for the Elimination of Racism, Afrophobia, and Colorism. FOREWARNING: This slide deck contains many painful images showing depraved violence against black people, excerpted from 'Tulsa Race Riot: A Report by the Oklahoma Commission to Study the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.' If you would like a copy of the slideshow, please contact me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mintonbrooks/)

1. Reparations Time: Justice is Due in the Decade
for People of African Descent
Left Forum Panel
May 22, 2016 / 12:00 -1:50pm Minton Brooks
1921 TULSA RACE
RIOT & MASSACRE

2. 1921 Tulsa Race Riot & Massacre
The Survivors
Prelude
May 21 - June 1 1921 Race Riot & Massacre
Seeking Reparations
2

3. 1921 TULSA RACE RIOT & MASSACRE
THE
SURVIVORS

4. Over the past 19 years, all known survivors have passed*
• In July 2001, there were 118 massacre survivors
• Commission member Eddie Faye Gates led the survivor search and research
• 15 identified survivors at the onset of the Commission’s work.
• By the time the Report was submitted there were 118
• The number is dynamic: new survivors identified as aging survivors are dying
• This dynamic makes the reparations work urgent and compelling. The
process by which survivors were identified through an ever-widening network
of communication over the past three years is a great story in itself.
* The first version of this slideshow was created in July 2001.

5. Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre as of July 2001

7. Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre as of July 2001
May 14, 2002

8. Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre as of July 2001
May 14, 2002

9. Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre as of July 2001
May 14, 2002

10. Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre as of July 2001
May 14, 2002

11. Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre as of July 2001

12. As of May 2016

13. 1921 TULSA RACE RIOT & MASSACRE
PRELUDE

14. 14
A birds eye view of Tulsa in 1918 (CourtesyMarkAdkinson).

15. 15
Portion of the Sanborn map dated 1920 with occupants drawn from the 1921 CityDirectory overlapped.

16. 16

17. 17
TheKu KluxKlangrippedOklahomainthe1920s,thiscer e monywasinLoneGrove
(CourtesyWesternHistory ollection,University of Oklahoma Libraries).

18. *218
(CourtesyOklahomaHistoricalSociety).

19. 19
Although Oklahoma had been plagued by lynchings since the territorialdays,withthecomingof statehood, more and more of the
ictims were African American. Of the thirty-three lynchings that occurred in Oklahoma between 1907 and 1920, including this ne,
which occurred at Okemah, fully twenty-seven of the victimswereblack(CourtesyofCurrie Ballard).

20. 20
Lynching believed to be at Mannford, Oklahoma
(Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Sociery).

21. 21
African Americansralliedsolidlybehindthenation’swareffort during World War I, and
thousands of black soldiers served in France. Upontheir return to theU. S.,how ever, many
blackvets found that the democracy that they had fought to protect over-seas was often
unavailable to them back home (Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society).

22. 1921 TULSA RACE RIOT & MASSACRE:
MAY 31 - JUNE 1
RACE RIOT &
MASSACRE

23. 23
Following the outbreak of violence at the courthouse, crowds of angry whites took to the streets downtown. There, according to white eye wit nesses, a num ber of blacks were killed in the ri ots
early hours. And even though the fight ing soon moved north to ward Greenwood, groups of whites—in clud ing these at Main and Ar cher—were still roam ing the streets of down town the next
morning (Courtesy Oklahoma HistoricalSociety).

24. 24
Groups of whites gatheredthroughoutthecity(CourtesyWesternHistoryCollection,University of Oklahoma Libraries).

25. 25
A typical member of the white mob. Not only did they set Af ri can-American homes and businesses
on fire, but looted their possessions as well (Courtesy BobHower).

26. 26
During the nighttime hours of May 31 and June 1, groups of rmed whitesmade “drive-by” shootings in black
residential eighborhoods,firingintoAfrican-Americanhomes (Courtesy Greenwood Cultural Center).

27. 27
Shortlyaftertheoutbreakofviolence,theTulsapolicepresentedthelocalNationalGuardsmen witha ma chinegun—onlyitproved tobe
defective.Asecondmachinegunthatwasinthehandsofwhitecivilians,however,wasusedtoconsiderableeffectduringtheat- tack on
Greenwood (CourtesyDepartmentofSpecialCollections,McFarlinLibrary,University of Tulsa).

28. 28
CourtesyDepartmentofSpecialCollections,McFarlinLibrary,UniversityofTulsa).

29. 29

30. 30
OnthemorningofJune1,mostblackTulsanswhoweretakenintocustodywerebroughttoConventionHall,onBradyStreet.Later,detention
reaswereestablishedatthefairgroundsandMcNultyballpark(CourtesyWesternHistoryCollection,Universityof Oklahoma Li braries).

31. 31
n the morn ing of June 1, most black Tulsans who were taken into cus tody were brought to Con vention Hall, on Brady Street. But as
e day wore on, and more and more African Americans were placed under arrest, new internment centers had to be established
ourtesyOklahomaHistoricalSociety).

32. 32
Courtesy Oklahoma HistoricalSociety).
*2

33. 33
(CourtesyGreenwoodCulturalCenter).

34. 34
Courtesy Department of Special Collections, McFarlin Li
rary,UniversityofTulsa).

35. 35
ftermathoftheriot(CourtesyGreenwoodCulturalCenter).

36. 36
(Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society).

37. 37
Courtesy Special Collections Department, McFarlin Library,UniversityofTulsa).

38. 38
emarkably, a handful of Tulsa’s finest African-American homes were still standing when the State Troops arrived in town. But
bout one-hour later, a small group of white men were seen en ter ing the houses, and set ting them on fire. By the time the State Troops
arched up Standpipe Hill, it was too late, the homes were gone (CourtesyTulsa HistoricalSociety).

39. 39
By the time the ad di tional Na tional Guard units from Oklahoma City ar rived in Tulsa the riot had pretty much run its course. Some
contemporary eyewitnesses, however, were critical of the time that it took for the State Troops to deploy outside of the downtown
business district (CourtesyOklahomaHistoricalSociety).

40. 40

41. 41
CourtesyDepartmentofSpecialCollections,McFarlinLibrary,UniversityofTulsa).

42. 42
Dedicated only weeks before the riot, the Mount Zion Baptist Church was a great source of pride for many black Tulsans. But
after a prolonged battle, the white rioters burned it—as well as more than a half dozen other African American churches—to
the ground (Courtesy Departmentof Special Collections,McFarlin Library, University o Tulsa).

43. 43
Courtesy Greenwood Cultural Center).

44. 44

45. 45
ThelossesintheGreenwoodbusinessdistrictalone—includingtwotheaters,threehotels,morethan adozen restau rants, andscores
f shops, family-run businesses, and professional offices—were staggering. One contemporary observer called the deaths and de-
truction cased by the race riot “without parallel in America” (Courtesy Oklahoma HistoricalSociety).

46. 46
Maurice Wil lows Hos pi tal. While Tulsa of fi cials turned away some of fers of out side aid, a number of individual white Tulsans pro-
vided assistanceto the city’snowvir tu allyhomelessblackpop ulation.ButitwastheAmeri can RedCross,whichremainedinTulsa
for months following the riot, provided the most sustained relief effort. Maurice Wil lows, the compassionate director of the Red
Cross re lief, kept a his tory of the events. (Cour tesy Bob Hower).

47. 47
(Courtesy McFarlin Library, University of Tulsa).

48. 48
lackTulsanssalvagedwhattheycouldfromtheirburnedhomesandbusinessesandbegantorebuildontheirown,usingwhatevermateri
ls they could find. It took some congregations years to rebuild their burned churches (Courtesy Oklahoma HistoricalSociety).

49. 49

50. 50

51. 51
Shock and despair accompany the aftermath of the Tulsa Race Riot
(Courtesy of the Library of Congress).

52. 52
nJune7,1921,theTulsaCityCommissionpassedafireordinancewhoserealpurposewa
o prevent black Tulsans from rebuilding the Greenwood commercial district whre it had re
viouslystood.AfricanAmericanattorneyB.C.Franklin,shownatright,helpedthelega
ffortthatwassuccessfulinoverturningtheordinance(CourtesyTulsaHistoricalSociety).

53. The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot & Massacre – losses
• Hundreds of lives
– Best estimate ~300
• Loss in fire: $1,500,000 - $2,000,000
• 1503 residences completely destroyed
• 600 businesses
• 21 churches
• 21 restaurants
• 30 stores
• 2 movie theaters
• a hospital, a bank, the post office, libraries
• schools

54. 1921 TULSA MASSACRE
SEEKING
REPARATIONS

55. Rep. Don Ross

56. 56

57. Failure of Reparations Through Lawsuits
Greenwood residents and property owners
(both black and white), filed more than one
hundred suits against their insurance
companies, the city of Tulsa, and even Sinclair
Oil Company, that allegedly provided airplanes
that were used in attacking Greenwood. Not
one of those suits was successful.
Tulsa Race Riot Commission Report, P. 166.
Tulsa Reparations

58. Tulsa Reparations Coalition
The Tulsa Reparations Coalition was formed in April, 2001 to help shepherd
implementation of the framework recommended by the Commission:
• Direct payment of reparations to survivors of the Tulsa Race Riot.
• Direct payment of reparations to descendants of the survivors of the Tulsa
Race Riot.
• A scholarship fund available to students affected by the Tulsa Race Riot.
• Establishment of an economic development enterprise zone in the historic
area of the Greenwood District.
• A memorial for the reburial of any human remains found in the search for
unmarked graves of riot victims.

59. 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Commission Report

60. 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Commission Report
The final report of the commission, submitted to the Governor on February 28,
2001, called for reparations:
“Because we must face it: There is no way but by
government to represent the collective, and there is no
way but by reparations to make real the responsibility . . .
When commissioners went looking to do the right thing,
that is what nearly all of them found and what they
recommended . . . Now, they are certain. Reparations
are the right thing to do.”

61. 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Commission Report
The Commission recommends:
1) Direct payment of reparations to survivors of the Tulsa
Race Riot.
2) Direct payment of reparations to descendants of the
survivors of the Tulsa Race Riot.
3) A scholarship fund available to students affected by the
Tulsa Race Riot.
4) Establishment of an economic development enterprise
zone in the historic area of the Greenwood District.
5) A memorial for the reburial of any human remains found
in the search for unmarked graves of riot victims.

62. Cash reparations to the survivors
• Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry organized three disbursements in total $53,000:
– March 2002, each of 131 survivors received $214. A number of survivors
had already passed.
– June 2002 $107 each to 101
– June 2003 $100 each to 100+
– Religious community responses as a gift, including a $20,000 payment to
survivors from the Unitarian-Universalist Association (see next slide).
– Received thanks from many survivors. Several framed the checks as more
important.
• A Tulsa corporate commission decided to pay out both money and
improvements, per the commission report.
• Pledged and raised $250,00 toward goal of $1.5 million to be held at Tulsa
Community Foundation.
• But after the lawsuit said statute of limitations was up, they gave all the
money back
• So no Reparations from the City of Tulsa or the State of Oklahoma.

63. 2001 Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly
Action of Immediate Witness

64. Supreme Court Petition

65. 65
Courtesy of the Greenwood Cultural Center

66. 66
Courtesy of the Greenwood Cultural Center

67. 67