Tulsa mayor unveils plan for $100M trust to address effects of 1921 race massacre
Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols (D) outlined plans for a trust on Sunday to address the ongoing effects stemming from the 1921 massacre that killed as many as 300 Black people, in one of the worst racial attacks in the country’s history.
The $105 million city-backed plan, put forward by the city’s first Black mayor, would not provide direct payments to descendants of the massacre, nor to the two living survivors, themselves.
But it would set up a private charitable trust aimed at rebuilding the city’s north side and investing in housing and revitalizing buildings.
"This is a critical step to help to unify Tulsans and heal the wounds that for so long prevented generations of our neighbors from being able to recover from the Race Massacre," Nichols said in a press release.
"The Greenwood Trust is really a bridge that connects what we as a community can bring to the table and what the community needs. As we seek to make this framework a reality, I am eager to work alongside my fellow Tulsans and partners across the country to create a fundamental shift in how we further establish generational wealth, housing opportunities, and repair for so many Tulsans,” he continued.
The Greenwood Trust will be created with the goal of securing the $105 million in assets by June 1, 2026, which is the 105th anniversary of the massacre.
The plan specifies that a privately funded executive director, as well as a board of trustees and a board of advisors, would be onboarded to “manage and operate the daily functions of the trust.” The first operational year of the trust will be a “planning year” to get the initiatives off the ground.
The majority of that funding, $60 million, would be designated for the Cultural Preservation Fund, to focus on improving buildings and “reducing blight.”
The Cultural Preservation Fund will also go toward implementing aspects of the Kirkpatrick Heights Greenwood Master Plan, which aims to develop a framework to redevelop 56 acres of publicly owned property in North Tulsa.
The master plan is a community-led planning process whose goal is to “evaluate existing conditions and opportunities, develop a vision for redevelopment of the sites, recommend structures for long-term ownership and governance of the sites, and create an action-oriented plan for implementation,” according to the site.
Also included in the $105 million Greenwood Trust is a $24 million Housing Fund, which would create housing opportunities for massacre survivors and descendants.
The third component of the trust would be a $21 million Legacy Fund, which would help create a scholarship funding structure for stronger educational pathways for descendants, as well as funding for small business and organizational grants to further economic development in the community.
Nichols announced the plan at the Greenwood Cultural Center on Sunday, June 1, which he previously designated as Tulsa Race Massacre Observance Day, an official city holiday, in an executive order earlier this year.
He noted that the plan does not use the term reparations, which he said is politically charged, and instead he characterized his plan as a “road to repair,” The Associated Press reported.
“At this moment in our nation’s history, this work will allow us to stand together and become a national model for how cities confront their history while charting a new path forward rooted in unity and truth,” Nichols said in the release.
“I firmly believe we have a community that is ready to take this step forward based on the advocacy work that has already taken place. 104 years after the Massacre, it is up to us to provide the framework that will build up a community that has been left out for far too long.”