In a historic and symbolic move, Tulsa’s newly elected mayor, and the first Black person to hold the office, has proposed the creation of a $105 million reparative trust to address the lasting impact of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence in American history that targeted African American homes and businesses.
According to Moguldom, now officially recognized as Tulsa Race Massacre Observance Day — the plan is the city’s first major effort to make amends for the destruction of the Greenwood District, once known as Black Wall Street, where Black-owned businesses thrived.
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The project, dubbed the Road to Repair, centers around the formation of the Greenwood Trust, a private charitable trust with a goal of securing $105 million in assets through a combination of private donations, public contributions, and possible property transfers by spring 2026 — the 105th anniversary of the massacre.
“This is, I think, a very significant first step,” said Nichols, Tulsa’s first Black mayor, according to The New York Times. “And it’s something we can all unite around. I think we can unite around housing specifically for affected populations. I think we can unite around investing in the Greenwood district and making sure that we’re able to revitalize it to be an economic power again.” The plan notably does not include direct cash payments to descendants or the two living survivors of the massacre, Leslie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher, both over 110 years old. However, the trust’s Board of Trustees may consider such payments in the future, according to city officials.
The initiative focuses on long-term investments in the North Tulsa community, with $60 million to be set aside for housing and economic development, including revitalizing commercial infrastructure in the Greenwood District. “The Greenwood District at its height was a center of commerce,” Nichols said. “So what was lost was not just something from North Tulsa or the Black community. It actually robbed Tulsa of an economic future that would have rivaled anywhere else in the world.”
Nichols emphasized that the project is not designed to be politically divisive, opting to avoid the term “reparations” and instead referring to it as a pathway to repair. The proposal does not require city council approval, but any public land transfers to the trust will, CNN reports. This announcement comes amid a fraught national climate regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. “The fact that this lines up with a broader national conversation is a tough environment,” Nichols acknowledged. “But it doesn’t change the work we have to do.”
Jacqueline Weary, the 65-year-old granddaughter of massacre survivor John R. Emerson Sr., said, “If Greenwood was still there, my grandfather would still have his hotel. It rightfully was our inheritance, and it was literally taken away.”
