Unresolved issues remain for race riot panel

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Issues of historical fact and culpability in the 1921 Tulsa race riot remain unclear less than a month before a<br>panel studying the violence is scheduled to report to lawmakers,

Monday, January 10th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- Issues of historical fact and culpability in the 1921 Tulsa race riot remain unclear less than a month before a
panel studying the violence is scheduled to report to lawmakers, its chairman said Monday.

The Tulsa Race Riot Commission will have to decide its own criteria on which to make a recommendation to the Legislature on any restitution to survivors, said chairman Bob Blackburn.

The commission likely will not finalize any findings of historical fact or reach conclusions on legal issues, Blackburn said. He considers such conclusions a job for historians and the
"historical process."

"Our goal was to uncover as much as the evidence as possible and I think we've done a very good job with that," he said.

But, he added, the historical record "is not as clear and concise as some people would like it to be."

Exactly what happened, casualty rates and whether a Tulsa cemetery is the site of a mass grave remain unsettled.

"In terms of culpability, I don't know if that can be determined beyond a shadow of a doubt," Blackburn said.

But commission members Eddie Faye Gates said she has all the facts she needs to support a $33 million reparation proposal that
includes scholarships, a museum and tax breaks to encourage business development in the area affected by the riot. She also
supports direct payments to the 73 survivors she has helped locate.

Ms. Gates said historians have shown culpability at the local, county and state level.

"This is a lot more than going into the till and touching your taxes," she said. "This is an issue of justice."

The facts of the two-day clash that left the city's black business district in ruins have long been disputed.

Historians do feel confident in saying that between 100 and 300 people were killed, more than 10,000 people were left homeless and that some riot victims were buried in unmarked graves, said Scott

Ellsworth, a historian who has been aiding the commission.

The Legislature assigned the commission the task of studying the riot and making a recommendation on reparations. A report is due Feb. 7.

The commission will have one more meeting before making a preliminary report to lawmakers, Blackburn said. However, the
meeting date had not been set as of Monday, he said.

The issue of reparations already is proving to be controversial.

A poll sponsored by the Tulsa World found that 57 percent 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 plus
or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Three commission members met with Mayor Susan Savage on Monday to seek permission to dig in Oaklawn Cemetery, said commission
member Currie Ballard. The panel wants to determine whether the cemetery holds a mass grave from the riot.

As a result of the meeting, paperwork will be filed seeking clearance for limited excavation, he said.

Ballard, historian-in-residence at Langston University, said he also believes the commission has enough information to support
restitution to survivors. He considers it a moral obligation rather than an issue of culpability.

"I think once the general populous of Oklahoma is aware of how horrible this was, I don't think you could go to church on Sunday
and not deal with reparations," he said.

Ballard, however, said the commission may need to seek an extension to have adequate time to compose its final report.

State Rep. Don Ross, whose legislation led to the commission's creation in 1997, said he has unanswered questions that makes him doubt whether a decision can be made by February.

"Culpability I don't think has been addressed," said Ross, who is not a commission member. He also said he wasn't certain the oral history associated with the riot has been adequately documented.

Blackburn said international media attention surrounding the commission's task had complicated the investigation. The possibility exists that the commission may not reach consensus on reparations, he said.

"That could happen and that could be the report," Blackburn said.