In Tulsa, Faith Leaders Call for Massacre Reparations

UU World

This year, on its centennial, the Tulsa Race Massacre is drawing enormous attention in national and international media. The eyes of the world are on Tulsa, and as the city questions how to atone for the horror—indeed, how to give it proper recognition—local churches, including All Souls Unitarian Church, have a deeply committed answer: Reparations.

Reparations remains a very controversial issue in the United States, even among some progressives. But for the Rev. Dr. Robert Turner, pastor of the Historic Vernon A.M.E. Church in Tulsa, reparations is a clear-cut issue of morality. Unlike white families, the descendants of Greenwood have been unable to reap the benefits of the wealth their families created. “There is no expiration date on morality,” he says.