Mirroring reparations given to the Black survivors and descendants of the Rosewood, Fla. race riots of 1923, the Tulsa, Okla. Race Riot Commission voted Feb. 4 to extend the same rights for a similar massacre in its Greenwood community in 1921, despite opposition by two white legislators and missing documents deliberately destroyed by members of the Ku Klux Klan, sources said.

The 11-member panel, made up of seven Blacks and six whites�including an archaeologist and pathologist�voted unanimously on the prioritizing of the reparations, but Senator Robert Milacek (R�Okla.) and State Representative Abe Deutschendorf (D�Okla), voted against the reparations because they did not believe that the state should be responsible for the Memorial Day weekend attack.

Commission member Jimmy White, a Black professor at Connors College, questioned why legislators could bicker over the proposed reparations, when the state spent billions defending the Oklahoma City bombers (1995) and are expected to raise $15 million for a dome on the state capitol.

Although a sub-committee had recommended a record setting $33 million in reparations, the commission voted to leave the final dollar amount decision to legislators who will present the proposal. The package would give money to the 80 known Black living survivors who range in ages 78 to 108, monetary and college scholarships to their living descendants, tax breaks for Black businesses and a memorial in honor of those who lost their lives in the white riot.

Immediately after the vote, commission member Eddie Fay Gates told The Final Call that these same legislators opposed the removal of the confederate flag over the state�s capitol building, which eventually came down.

"We were very determined to overturn what the two white legislator�s were asking for, which was more scholarships than anything else. We said that was not just and demanded justice for the survivors and those who lost relatives. We were strong and stood firm on that. I feel that we accomplished what we set out to do," Mrs. Gates said.

Mrs. Gates said that during the two-year-investigation, which will continue, primary resources were destroyed by members of the KKK. She explained that the commission found official Klansmen rolls from 1928-1931, which list many of Tulsa�s then elite and respected community leaders. The commission believes that racists hid local police records, the fire Marshal report, National Guard report and other important riot documentation.

"They cut out information because they didn�t want this blot on Tulsa�s image. They didn�t want America to know that some of Tulsa�s political, social and economic leaders were card carrying Klansmen. That�s why we have such a strong case against the city and county and we must hold them responsible," Mrs. Gates added.

The Commission is still trying to retrieve the May 31, 1921 edition of the Tulsa Tribune which flashed an inflammatory front page article with "Nab Negro for Assaulting Girl in Elevator" as the reported headline and an editorial which read "To Lynch A Negro Tonight."

The fabricated newspaper story triggered the violence which extended 36 blocks, led to between 300-3,000 deaths and the destruction of most of its property, including homes, movie theaters, 21 churches, 30 grocery stores, a bank, post office and hospital. Today, only a block of the original buildings remain and the land, then valued at $13 million, is now worth $65 million.

The story alleged that Dick Rowland, a Black shoe shiner, assaulted a white women on the previous day while she worked as an elevator operator. In an editorial printed in an evening edition, the publication said that "a hanging" was planned for that night. In response, both Blacks and whites gathered near a local courthouse, where a white man questioned a Black man as to why he was carrying a gun. When the Black man said that he would use it if he had to, the white man struggled to take it from him, the gun went off, and the riot began.

Several books written about the Tulsa riot say that jealousy by whites sparked leaders to launch that attack on "Little Africa," as it was often referred to. Due to segregation, Blacks in Greenwood did business amongst each other, and some say that marriages with Native Americans led to ownership of land where oil was found. Reports conclude that the National Guard, which was sent in by the governor, mounted two machine guns and poured deadly fire into the area. After Blacks and whites battled the streets, many Blacks ran out of ammunition, were rounded up by whites, and were beaten and shot to death.

In an interview with The Final Call, Otis Clark, a 97-year-old traveling evangelist and Tulsa survivor, said that while a reparation package is fitting, a verbal and written apology from the government would bring more closure for victims like himself, and their families, whom he feels were directly affected. The former butler for famed actress Joan Crawford said that his own step-father was killed as a result of the riot.

"When the riots began, my friends and I went to get ambulances to both gather the dead and save lives. When the white men shot at us, we fled to the railroad and got on a train. When we returned, my family�s home was gone and the Red Cross built tents for my mother and grandmother. Those tents remained for more than two years. Insurance claims were turned down and no one helped to re-build our community. What they did was wrong. I�ll never forget it," said Mr. Clark, who was an 18-year-old student at the time the riots occurred.

The Tulsa Race Riot Commission was originally sanctioned by Don Ross, a Black Oklahoma state representative. The former publisher, who became interested in the riot as a young man in Tulsa, ran the first detailed account of the riot in a magazine called IMPACT in 1971. After becoming an elected official, he began proposing legislation for reparations, which later turned into the call for the commission and a full investigation.

"There had been no official study on the riot. I knew that one day, I would fight for reparations. After compensation was given the victims and family members of the Oklahoma Federal Building bombing and Rosewood riots, I knew it was time. The reparations to Greenwood are overdue and should be paid. This has been a 43-year journey for me, and I hope extend the life of the commission due all of the information that continues to come in," Rep. Ross said.

Photo: State commission, shown during a meeting Feb 4, in Tulsa, Okla., recommended paying reparations for one of the nation's deadliest racial clashes: a little known 1921 rampage by a white Tulsa mob that killed as many as 300 people, most of them Black.