105 years after the Tulsa Race Massacre, Black businesses struggle to keep up with gentrification

Development on the south side of Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the years has siphoned revenue from African American entrepreneurs, Greenwood District residents told The Mirror US.

During the years that followed the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre — during which 10,000 White supremacists slaughtered at least 300 Black people — white Tulsans did everything they could to oppress the surviving victims and prevent them from rebuilding the Greenwood District’s legacy as the pinnacle of Black excellence. They refused to provide insurance payouts, enacted retributive zoning and approved the construction of the I-244 highway that cut into a large swath of Black Wall Street.

Now, 105 years later, members of the local Black Community told The Mirror US that gentrification has given way to a drop in revenue for Black-owned businesses.

“At this point, we’re looking at economic inequality,” 54-year-old Dr. Corinice Wilson, who is running for a City Council seat in District 1, which covers North and West Tulsa, told The Mirror US. “We’re still dealing with those biases we saw in 1921.”

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According to multiple residents who’ve lived in the area for a large portion of their lives, North Tulsa has a majority Black population, while the south side, where major development has occurred, has now been gentrified by white people.

Moreover, white-owned businesses have dazzled former patrons of Black Wall Street and effectively cut into the revenue of once-thriving shops.

“About 28% of residents in my district are at or below the poverty line. We have to start doing a better job at collaborating,” Wilson said. “The median average income of North Tulsa is $35,000. The median average income of the south side is $65,000. That means there is a large number of individuals there that make $100,000 or more.”

Cyndii Copser, 54, of Black Wall Street Tees and Souvenirs, acknowledged the drop in business, calling it a “bittersweet situation.”

“It’s sweet because of the development. It’s attracting more people that are interested in our history. But, it does hinder our business some, as well, because they are bringing in other businesses and a lot of the gentrification. People don’t know about the actually historic parts,” she told The Mirror US.

Nevertheless, Cosper believes her store is invaluable to the community because patrons receive a “historical experience” complete with novelty T-shirts and sweaters featuring illustrations of Tulsa from the early 1910s.

Development has crept into North Tulsa in the past few years with the opening of the Greenwood Rising History Center, located just outside of Black Wall Street on North Greenwood Avenue. The City of Tulsa, using public funding and private donors, invested about $20 to $30 million into the project, which opened to the public in 2020.

Executive Director Raymond Doswell, a seasoned, African American public historian, called the phenomenon a “mix of what modern development is now.”

“Modern development means there are going to be diverse groups interested in trying to build up businesses here because we have a diverse economy — not only in terms of types of businesses, but types of people who run these businesses,” he told The Mirror US. “I think where we get caught is the fact that this area was a major concentration of Black businesses and Black power. To have it stolen and rebuilt and not have it mostly Black is an affront to people.”

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Despite the tangible effect on Black businesses in the area, Doswell believes the Black community can still benefit from the historical museum and other such developments.