Tulsa City Council votes to support national monument in Greenwood District

TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa City Councilors have voted to support a move to designate Greenwood and Black Wall Street as a new national monument.

If it does happen, it would be the first national monument in Oklahoma.

A motion asked for City Councilors to support the push for the national monument. The Council voted in favor of backing it, though one abstained from voting.

At the meeting, seven members of the public spoke out about the designation proposal, some of them said they don’t see what the benefits are to the community and that they haven’t had enough information.

Others said they were worried about the government may be having control over some of the buildings in Greenwood.

The coalition backing the proposal said they want to preserve Greenwood’s future and this would help to bring more tourists into the area.

The coalition said they’re planning to hold a series of community meetings so everyone is better informed. They also said they’re also sending a delegation to Washington to campaign for the monument.

They’re hoping the president could designate the area as a monument as early as the next anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in May.

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