Black Wall Street memorial covered: “This is not a photo op.”
The Associated Press - June 21, 2020 9:54 am
TULSA, Okla. — A memorial to Black Wall Street in the Greenwood District of Tulsa has been covered with tarp by residents who say they don’t want it used as a photo opportunity by the White House administration as the President holds a campaign rally nearby.
The tarp was placed following a news conference that included Tiffany Crutcher, the twin sister of Terence Crutcher, a black man killed by a Tulsa police officer in 2016.
“This is not a photo op, that’s not what this is,” said Nehemiah Frank, editor of the online Black Wall Street Times in Tulsa, in a video posted following the news conference which called for the campaign rally to be canceled and for peaceful protests. “This is a place to come pay respects to people that died a horrible murder from racism,” Frank said, as the video showed signs attached to the blue tarp, including one reading “This is sacred ground, not a photo op.”
The Greenwood District was the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in which black-owned businesses were burned and an estimated 300 people were killed.
