SEARCHING FOR JUSTICE IN TULSA: A CASE FOR REPARATIONS FOR DESCENDANTS OF THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE OF 1921

Abstract

The massacre of Tulsa’s Greenwood District represents a historic injustice. However, the injustice suffered by black Tulsans was not limited to the immediate acts that occurred on June 1, 1921. In my thesis, I focus on the injustices that were perpetuated in the years following the massacre as a result of the silence, or selective history, adopted by state officials. In identifying the enduring nature of the injustice suffered by black Tulsans, I argue that the standard challenges to re-addressing historic injustice can be overcome and a case for reparations made for the descendants of survivors. In framing my argument, I apply two distinct approaches to reparations: reparations for the economic damages inflicted upon black Tulsans and reparations for the years of silence and dismissiveness that predated the loss of family history and a kind of public amnesia that distorted the collective memory of entire generations.