“We Are Not Lesser” draws on official data and the testimony and accounts provided by Tulsa residents at multiple public convenings from June through September of 2019. The report calls for the city to remedy the Tulsa Police Department’s disparate enforcement practices against Black Tulsans and invest in services and programs that would reduce its reliance on policing, offering a number of recommendations including:
According to the report, “Last summer, Tulsans, like millions of Americans nationwide, organized and participated in mass demonstrations to protest police violence, to demand accountability for police misconduct and brutality, and to urge a rethinking of the public safety framework. Tulsa’s protests mirrored those that took place in every one of the 50 states in the aftermath of the recent police killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, Carlos Ingram-Lopez in Arizona, Tony McDade in Florida, and Rayshard Brooks in Georgia. But, as the testimony throughout the Tulsa City Council public listening sessions and special meetings demonstrates, members of Tulsa’s Black and Latinx communities have long been demanding the City take action to address racial bias in Tulsa’s policing practices.
As the city of Tulsa plans activities to commemorate the 100th anniversary of this country’s worst race massacre, it must also commit to addressing the reality of contemporary racial discrimination and inequality in Tulsa. Any effort by the city of Tulsa to honestly confront past racial injustice must include a willingness to acknowledge and address the contemporary manifestations of historical discrimination and a clear commitment to implementing measures that can result in change. In Tulsa, such an effort must include the adoption of transformative public safety policies and strategies to ensure Tulsans are safe in their communities regardless of their race, ethnicity or national origin. Tulsans deserve nothing less.
