Tulsa's past lingers on holiday

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- As Martin Luther King Jr. was honored across the state, residents in Tulsa reflected on what to do with the city's troubled past. Gov. Frank Keating led children Monday in the

Tuesday, January 18th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- As Martin Luther King Jr. was honored across the state, residents in Tulsa reflected on what to do with the city's troubled past. Gov. Frank Keating led children Monday in the traditional ringing of a replica of the Liberty Bell in Oklahoma City. More than 100 people gathered on the steps of the Oklahoma Historical Society Building across from the Capitol.

Keating said King drove home the principle that "we are all brothers and sisters under the law and before God," while stressing it was the content of one's character that was important. Among those present was Clara Luper, who led downtown Oklahoma City lunch counter sit-ins in the late 1950s.

The mood was festive in Tulsa. Thousands lined the streets north of the city to "Stamp Out The Hate" for the Martin Luther King Jr. parade. Elementary students sang "We Shall Overcome" while trying to walk in sync. Miss Black Tulsa turned her hand ever so slightly to the crowds. Girls in gold uniforms swung their hips and waved their arms to the beat of the music.

Alloween White watched from her lawn chair. "We still have problems," she said. "It just hasn't improved like it should had." It was here, in her city, that the 1921 race riot took place. Historians believe as many as 300 people, mostly blacks, were killed when white mobs burned 36 blocks of the city's black business district in a two-day spree.

The Tulsa Race Riot Commission has said that the affected families should be compensated as restitution for one of the nation's worst acts of racial violence. "They should get anything they want," Ms. White said about restitution. Sitting alongside her, Ms. White's son Jeffrey, added, "a lot of people lost property, and we lost progress. You can still see the segregation today."

Down the street, Frank Crawford agreed. "They ought to be compensated," he said. "A lot of white people got started in business because of the riot." Some believe the best thing for the city's race relations is to move on. As the parade was organized, Karen and Calgry Smith sat in the back of a pickup truck with their 2-year-old nephew. When the race riot was brought up, Mrs. Smith looked down and then over to her husband to see what he thought. "Let it be," Smith said, his eyes focused on the parade ahead. Mrs. Smith turned, "Yes, let it be."

A recent poll sponsored by the Tulsa World found that 57 per cent of Oklahomans don't think the state should pay reparations to survivors of the violence The strongest opposition came from Tulsa at 62 percent. The poll, which was conducted by Tulsa Surveys, surveyed 750 people statewide in late December. It had a margin of error of plusor minus 3.5 percentage points.

Waiting for his son to march by in a band, John Roberts said he doesn't know what should be done. Or if restitution is given, who should decide it. "I don't know. I just don't know," Roberts said. "It's hard. You can't forget, but you can't go forward if you're fighting over the past."