No Oklahoma, No Obama?

This week’s historic inauguration of Barack Obama reminded me of an impactful local Civil Rights moment; the desegregation of the lunch counter at Oklahoma City's Katz drug company. (My mom, dad and grandmother were actually there when it happened, but it wasn't the first historical event in Oklahoma that my family managed to worm their way into. Please see the earlier blog entry on my kin’s attempt to overthrow the government with squirrel guns in the Green Corn Rebellion)

Not familiar with the Katz story? Well, back in August of 1958, Oklahoma City’s Katz Drug Store was the scene of one of the nation’s first sit-ins. My grandmother was the head cashier/business manager at the downtown store during this time of intense racial unrest. My mother helped her out by typing up payroll checks for employees. Before long, my parents would find love at Katz after my dad took a job as a busboy/stocker.

The store’s manager, Mr. Wade (that’s how my grandmother and every other employee referred to him), had been steadfast in refusing to serve African Americans. It’s hard to believe that this was common practice in these parts just fifty years ago.

Here’s how the whole Katz thing went down, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society:

“On August 19, 1958 Mrs. Clara Luper led 3 dedicated chaperones and 14 courageous members of the NAACP Youth Council from her home to the Katz Drug Store lunch counter in downtown Oklahoma City. They attempted to sit at the lunch counter and order soft drinks. This seemingly simple gesture ignited a non-violent act of civil disobedience that instantly catapulted Mrs. Luper and the youth council into the spotlight of the local and national press and has earned them a place in the annals of U.S. history. Their struggle to integrate the eating establishments in Oklahoma City lasted 5 years and 11 months.”

Eventually, as my grandma told me, Mr. Wade gave in. One day he said to the staff, “Well, hell; go ahead and serve ‘em. Their money’s just as good as anybody else’s.” And with that, the counter was opened to blacks and soon afterwards, other public facilities were desegregated, too.

Can you imagine what Ms. Luper and other African Americans of her generation must be feeling today with a man of color in the White House? I can’t fathom the humiliation of being refused service because of my skin color. But here we are, a half-century later, being led by a man whose father would have been forced to sit at the back of a bus simply because of his race.

We’ve come a long way, baby, and Oklahoma City got the movement started!

Thank you, Clara and company!

(Photos from the Oklahoma Historical Society)