P R E S S R E L E A S E
P R E S S R E L E A S E P R E S S
R E L E A S E
Unitarian
Universalist Association of Congregations
For Immediate Release
Survivors of 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Receive Reparation
Payments
Unitarian Universalist Association Is Leading Contributor
(Tulsa, OK - April 10) One-hundred-thirty-one survivors of the
Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, the bloodiest in U.S. history, yesterday received
the first reparations payment from Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, an interfaith
religious coalition. Reparations payments totaled $28,000, of which
$20,000 was contributed by the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association.
Other contributors to the fund were the Tulsa congregations of All Souls
Unitarian Church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration,
College Hill Presbyterian Church, and Metropolitan Community Church
United.
The Rev. William G. Sinkford, president of the UUA, today said, "Unitarian
Universalists believe that direct reparations to the Tulsa survivors
is a first step in a journey of restorative justice. Our faith community
is honored to be a part of this effort by Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry."
Sinkford noted that UUA participation in the reparations project was
supported by a vote at the denomination's General Assembly last June
. Sinkford said the UUA has sent an additional $5,000 contribution to
Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry to initiate anti-racism programs in the
community.
Starting in the early 1980s, historians
began to uncover the buried history of the 1921 race riot. Recent
research suggests that more than 300 people were killed, and more than
1,200 buildings, 35 square blocks, in the Greenwood section of Tulsa
were burned or looted or both. In 1997, the Oklahoma Legislature created
the Tulsa
Race Riot Commission to investigate the riot and its aftermath and
to make recommendations for legislative action. In March, 2001, the
Commission delivered its final
report calling for reparations, but no legislative action was ever
taken on the issue. The destruction of Greenwood resembles the massacre
of black residents of Rosewood, Florida, in 1923. In 1994, the Florida
Legislature, citing "a moral obligation," voted reparations
for the descendants of the Rosewood victims
In November, 2001, Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry created the Reparations
Gift Fund, and the UUA made the lead contribution of $20,000. According
to Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, the fund "is intended to inspire
the civic and business community to follow the lead of the religious
community, not to take the place of other efforts at reparations."
TMM will continue to accept contributions to the fund as long as there
are living survivors of the riot and hopes to make quarterly payments
from the fund to the survivors.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal, creedless religion with Judeo-Christian
roots; it traces its history in North America to the first Pilgrim and
Puritan settlers and has numbered among its members five U.S. presidents.
The UUA, headquartered in Boston, MA, was formed in 1961 through the
consolidation of the Universalist Church of America and the American
Unitarian Association. More than 1,050 congregations in North America
belong to the Unitarian Universalist Association.
For further information, please contact John Hurley, UUA Director of
Information, at jhurley@uua.org
, (617) 948-6131, or Janet Hayes, Information Officer at jhayes@uua.org
, (617) 948-4386.
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