Coming to Terms with Our Terms for Tulsa's Past: A New Name for a Key Commission

Our guest is State Senator Kevin Matthews, who recently held a press conference to announce that the name of the 1921 Race Riot Commission has been officially changed to the 1921 Race Massacre Commission. As Matthews, who chairs this Commission, noted at the conference: "The fact that it was called a riot was one of the reasons given for turning down insurance claims, and it has been offensive to many in the affected area for 97 years. After being made aware of the significance of the term, the Commission has decided to officially change its name." Matthews joins us to discuss these two terms in detail -- i.e., "riot" and "massacre" -- and to also discuss the reasons behind this important name change.