Efforts to Rename Brady Arts District

[BKDotCom]

Who is demanding reparations?

you are?

Reparation (per Merriam Webster):
1  a repairing or keeping in repair
2
   a : the act of making amends, offering expiation, or giving satisfaction for a wrong or injury
   b : something done or given as amends or satisfaction
3.  the payment of damages

[RecycleMichael]

I am not asking for anything to be given. I am not addressing victims in any way.

I am supporting a name change for a street.

[sgrizzle]

Brad street. It stands for BRady Arts District.



/problemsolvedandyetnot

[RecycleMichael]

I am still waiting for a response to my question...

Is there anything anyone could have done that would warrant a name change? Anything.

Why won't any of you answer this?

[RecycleMichael]

Brad street. It stands for BRady Arts District.



/problemsolvedandyetnot

How much does it costs to knock the "Y' off the signs?

[Red Arrow]

How much does it costs to knock the "Y' off the signs?

A can of spray paint and a city worker on overhead.

[Red Arrow]

I am still waiting for a response to my question...
Is there anything anyone could have done that would warrant a name change? Anything.
Why won't any of you answer this?

I did.  See reply #93.

[BKDotCom]

I am not asking for anything to be given. I am not addressing victims in any way.

I am supporting a name change for a street.

Let me try to summarize the different viewpoints

• * The sign makes me feel bad.  And you should feel bad.  It needs changed/fixed/repaired (reparation)
• * If it ain't broke, why fix it
• * The sign is historical (according to an article that doesn't cite any references)..  It serves to remind us the of dark times.. that we don't hope to repeat
• * The sign is historical (according to an article that doesn't cite any references)..  It serves to remind us the of dark times.. that we don't hope to repeat...  Change the sign.. we'll remember via other methods (I promise)
• * I want the street's name changed for reasons completely unrelated to the controversy (not a winning argument)
• * I don't care one way or the other

Should this be a survey question?

[Townsend]

Should this be a survey question?

Good idea

[BKDotCom]

Good idea

http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/index.php?topic=20103

[Conan71]

Who is demanding reparations?

Uh, you don't view re-naming a street or district for the stated reasons a reparation?  What would you characterize it as?

[BKDotCom]

Uh, you don't view re-naming a street or district for the stated reasons a reparation?  What would you characterize it as?

I am not asking for anything to be given. I am not addressing victims in any way.

I am supporting a name change for a street.

I put option #5 on the poll for RM
"I want the street's name changed for reasons completely unrelated to the controversy"

aka, a street needs renamed, and I randomly pick Brady!  That's my new reason and that's what I'm sticking to.

It has one vote.

[patric]

What does This Land Press, et al hope to achieve by renaming the street, district, etc? 

They already had the new name picked out, we just missed it:

The true hero of the Tulsa Riots was A.J.Smitherman who preached law and order and condemned the mob.
He was editor of the Tulsa Star and fled to Boston, after the mob burned down his home.  He was dogged by the charge of inciting a riot.
I worked in Smitherman's newspaper office when I was sixteen, but only learned of his heroism within the last twenty years.
I think that the Brady district should be named after Smitherman and that a space be set aside as a museum to honor him. 
http://thislandpress.com/09/16/2011/true-hero

[cannon_fodder]

How much does it costs to knock the "Y' off the signs?

Michael - I answered your question very clearly and supported my opinion.  I did this three or four pages ago.

You are clearly emotionally invested in this issue as you have lost your usually posting demeanor.  You consistently ignore or chastize others points (oh, so because we don't rename Washington we don't rename anything!  Ignoring Conans repeated point about no actual evidence), build straw men (we renamed Pearl street/I44 moved businesses), and repeat the same thing.

The basic points against the name change are:

1) there is no real evidence condemning Brady, just anecdote.
2) if the stake holders who have branded the district dont want to change it - why undue the brand?
3) changing the name doesn't FIX anything, just like the race memorial didn't fix anything or renaming Pearl to Peoria didn't fix anything.  I this a meaningless gesture for cause-heads.
And 4) a cranky poster who doesn't live here says let it be.

For the discussion to have point, we need to address those issues or you won't start to change their minds.  Not trying to be a jerk, but your position has become entrenched and lost your usually persuasion.

[RecycleMichael]

Thanks for mentioning my usual persuasion. I really am not that invested in this topic, I am just keeping conversation going. I am entitled to my opinion and this ain't the first time I am in the minority.

I took the other side because I thought the arguments were lame. We can't change because some people had already started using Brady as a brand. We shouldn't do anything because it happened a long time ago. Why change unless we have absolute undoubtable proof that he was a bad guy? We should focus on only the good and ignore the bad of him. Haven't we already done enough for victims by building a reconciliation park? Other people in our past did other bad things so why should we do anything about this guy?

Take each of those points separately and they don't persuade me.

Brady was a very powerful guy. He had a shop that did $3 million a year in sales. In today's dollars, that is a $60 million store (I doubt there is any store in Tulsa that sells $60 million a year now). He owned the biggest hotel in town and controlled most of the property development. He was as powerful as Kanbar, David Sharp, and the TDA are all combined in comparison. He convinced the police chief to open the jail and give him 17 people that his mob tortured.

I am not surprised that more complete recordings of his behavior don't exist. If you went against a person that powerful, you wouldn't live long, especially when he was best friends with the police chief. I think he was amazingly cruel and did whatever he wanted. I bet most Tulsans were afraid of him.

I don't like that he has a street named after him. I am sure that the people who named the street back then had very little say in opposing it.

Call me wrong for seeing an opportunity to do something about it. I didn't start this conversation but feel it is a talk our community needs to have. I don't expect anything to happen and I am OK with that. That doesn't make me wrong.

I am not afraid of change and it is never too late to do the right thing.