TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa City Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday night for the Tulsa Race Massacre.
There was a lot of passion in the more than three hour-long meeting. More than two dozen speakers supported the resolution, but they also said it’s not enough.
Along with an apology from the city for the race massacre, the resolution creates a community-led process to make efforts toward conciliation based on recommendations from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot - now massacre - commission report.
The majority of the audience said more needs to be done. They called for reparations for the survivors and descendants of those in the race massacre. While councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper agrees there needs to be reparations, she wants to be clear that’s not what this is.
“This was not a reparations proposal," Hall-Harper said. "Reparations is land and cash. Everything else is good policy.”
One of the speakers at the council meeting was Rev. Jesse Jackson. He also attended a protest outside City Hall before the council meeting, where a crowd was again calling for reparations.
READ MORE: Rev. Jesse Jackson joins protest for reparations at City Hall
“We have not seen justice yet," Jackson said. "And until we see justice, we are the land of the oppressors and the home of the cowards.”
Some councilors said they would support reparations during the city council meeting and acknowledge that a debt is owed. However, others declined to answer as the city is part of a lawsuit surrounding reparations.
Hall-Harper said they hope to begin forming the group for that community-led process as soon as possible.
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