Riot commission reports to governor, mayor
BY World's own Service
Feb 28, 2001
1/20/13 at 7:53 AM
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Commission handed over its final report to
Gov. Frank Keating and Tulsa Mayor Susan Savage on Wednesday.
The commission's final report -- released at a state capitol press conference --
calls for action on a list reparations, including payments to riot survivors. The
commission describes reparations as the only way to set right the collective actions
of the 1921 rioters who burned and looted black sections of Tulsa, killing as many as
300.
"We must face it," the report concludes "There is no way but by government to
represent the collective, and there is no way but by reparations to make real the
responsibility."
On some questions the commission did not come to specific conclusions, including the
number killed in the riot.
"Although the exact total can never be determined, credible evidence makes it
probable that many people, likely numbering between one and three hundred, were killed
during the riot," the report says.
The Oklahoma Legislature created the 11-member commission in 1997 with a mandate to
establish a history of the riot and consider the possibilities of reparations.
For more, see Thursday's Tulsa World.
