Tulsa mural's fate is still up for debate

TULSA — A Black Lives Matter street mural will remain on Greenwood Avenue for now, but its ultimate fate is far from certain.

Members of the Tulsa City Council talked about the mural at a Wednesday public works committee meeting and decided to discuss it again in a week to give city councilors time to do more research.

The debate over the art largely stems from its origins as a street mural that was painted without a city permit. Activist artists painted the words “Black Lives Matter” in bold yellow letters on the street in the days surrounding Juneteenth and the campaign rally that President Donald Trump held at the BOK Center. Supporters of the mural have said the artists expected the street art to have worn off by now because of the type of paint that was used, but it has remained.

Two city councilors voiced support for the mural at Wednesday's virtual committee meeting.

“I think we can clearly see it as another wave of the Civil Rights movement. This is something that people and governments are saying all over the United States,” said District 4 City Councilor Kara Joy McKee.

“And if Tulsa were to make the official decision to remove our mural, we would be the only large city in the nation to do so. I know sometimes it's great for us to be first. This might not be the time when we want to be first.”

However, others on the council questioned the wisdom of allowing the street art to stay, saying it would set a precedent that would make them the constant arbiters of street art messages.

Phil Lakin, District 8 City Councilor, described the Greenwood District where the mural was painted as “historically hallowed” not just locally but nationally, referring to the area being the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre where white mobs murdered hundreds of Blacks in the thriving Black Wall Street community.

Still, he said he had misgivings about the council becoming involved in the mural's fate and potentially other murals and street art bearing messages.

“It's concerning to me that we, the council, would have to choose as government speech which of these messages we want to support and messages we don't want to support,” Lakin said. “I was hoping we wouldn't be put in this incredibly sensitive position.”

McKee and District 1 City Councilor Vanessa Hall- Harper have been clear about their support for the mural. The two city leaders once proposed making the mural a part of the Historic Greenwood District Main Street program, but they recommended that the city consider another idea on Wednesday.

McKee and Hall-Harper said the city could keep the mural by exercising the government speech doctrine. McKee, whose District 4 encompasses the street art, said under the new proposal, the mural would remain at least until the 2021 centennial commemoration of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Hall- Harper talked about why she and McKee believed their proposal would work. She shared a list of 70 cities around the country that had exercised the government speech doctrine to maintain similar Black Lives Matter street murals.

“The government speech doctrine recognizes that a government entity is entitled to say what it wishes and to select the views that it wants to express. In this vein, when the government speaks, the government is not barred by the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment from determining the content of what it says and can engage in viewpoint discrimination. That's the legal definition. I think this is the way, the direction we would like to proceed,” she said.

Hall- Harper pointed out that cities across the South had accepted monuments placed by the Daughters of the Confederacy using the government speech doctrine. She said currently some of those cities are “exercising their governmental voice and saying we want these monuments removed.”

Both McKee and Hall- Harper said city councilors have approved permits after events have happened and the city sometimes approves a permit for a structure like a garage after the structure has already been built.

McKee, attempting to add some context, showed a U.S. map where similar mural have been been placed. She said the mural's message fits the Greenwood District.

“In the course of being city councilors, I believe that accepting this as speech of the government, in accordance with what is happening all over the country, in that map that you saw, absolutely makes sense and would fit very well in this time and place,” she said..

Besides Lakin, other city leaders who expressed concern about the mural included District 6 City Councilor Connie Dodson and District 2 City Councilor Jeannie Cue.

Dodson said she supported a proposed measure aimed at preventing other street paintings from showing up on city streets without permits.

Terry Ball, director of the city's streets and stormwater department, told the councilors that there were plans for a mill and overlay on the stretch of roadway where the Black Lives Matter mural was painted. He said the street improvement project was scheduled to take place a few months before the centennial commemoration of the race massacre. When city leaders inquired about the cost of removing the mural, Ball said it would be an estimated $20,000.

Cue said she was concerned that more murals illegally placed on city streets would end up costing the city money each time they had to remove one.

District 7 City Councilor Lori Decter Wright had questions about how other cities have dealt with similar issues. She said she knew the mural and its message was “very emotional” for many residents and she did not want the council to forget the history of the Greenwood area as they considered what they recommended for the street art.

McKee shared similar comments.

“I do want us to consider that this is an extraordinary moment. It would be a healing gesture for us leaders to get behind these words,” McKee said.

No definitive answer

Supporters of the mural had hoped the city council would make a recommendation on Wednesday to preserve the mural.

The Rev. Robert Turner, pastor of Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church located on Greenwood Avenue, said he was disappointed that the council continued the matter for another week.

“They are the elected body of the people. I think it's sad that some of them want to shirk their responsibility,” Turner said.

“We've spent some three week now talking about paint on a street.”