Tulsa, OK -
The 1921 Race Riot is a dark time in Tulsa's history. "It's not just important to Tulsa, it's important to the history of our nation," said the Tulsa Preservation Commission's Kristen Bergman. Now, there's a call to protect some of the places tied to it.
The commission is on board with putting certain places on the National Register of Historic Places. It includes some of what you would expect like a stretch of Greenwood, but other places nearby are not on the list. An area at 6th and Boulder downtown, which is the site of the old courthouse where the first shot was fired, is included. "You get to a point and you start drawing zig zag lines that excludes parts of streets that should be included," Ruben Gant told the commission. He's the head of the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce. He and several others showed up to nomination hoping to get the commission to rethink their submission to the national registry. "If you're going to do it, do it correctly and it's not. there are too many historical sights that have been excluded," Lee Alfred explained to Tulsa's Channel 8.
The commission agrees areas were left out. "The historic fabric of this area has been lost. It's been a challenge to put this together," admitted Bergman. However, the commission says it did the best that it could. As a result, it's moving forward, but to people passionate about telling what they see as the whole story, it's not over. "I think African Americans and descendants of race riot victims are being robbed of their history and heritage. It really doesn't tell a true story," said Gant.
The commission says people are free to submit their concerns in writing. Members also say nothing is written in stone and that the registry listing could always be expanded later. Some doubt that would become a reality.
