Organizers: Dispute over paying 3 survivors & reparations fund scrapped Tulsa event

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Tulsans working on events commemorating the 1921 Race Massacre say a dispute over monetary payments to survivors led to the cancellation of a headline event.

Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons says he submitted a list of requests to the 1921 Race Massacre Centennial Commission that included direct payments to survivors, but an agreement couldn’t be met.

Centennial Commission Chairman Sen. Kevin Matthews says the group had agreed to a $100,000 payment to each of the three survivors and $2 million in seed money for a reparations fund. However, Matthews says Solomon-Simmons then increased that request to $1 million per survivor and $50 million in seed money.

The disagreement highlights broader debates over reparations for racial injustice.