This post originally ran as an article in the Sept. 4, 2018 edition of the Enid News & Eagle. It is the third article in a three-part series on sit-in protests and restaurant desegregation in Enid, Oklahoma. ENID, Okla. — On Sept. 4, 1958, 60 years ago today, Enid restaurant owners concluded a meeting with … Continue reading ‘A generational fight’ — Protest organizer recalls desegregating Enid restaurants
Civil Liberties
Guns, violence and our dwindling middle ground
Last week, I wrote about two horrific acts of violence. I wrote, in part, about how we’d already forgotten the loud cries for common sense gun regulation — specifically, banning bump stocks — in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting. I wrote in that column that we were apparently waiting until the next mass … Continue reading Guns, violence and our dwindling middle ground
Kneeling, the flag and the true meaning of patriotism
As NFL players, coaches and owners prepare for their league meeting today to discuss the ongoing kerfuffle over the kneeling protests I wanted to pause briefly to voice my opinion on this as an American veteran. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this. Frankly I thought the uproar over this would … Continue reading Kneeling, the flag and the true meaning of patriotism
The most segregated hour
ENID, Okla. — More than half a century after Martin Luther King, Jr. called 11 a.m. on Sunday the most segregated hour in America, eighty percent of the nation’s congregations still are made up of predominantly one race. That statistic is slowly shifting toward more diverse congregations — in 2012 all-white congregations made … Continue reading The most segregated hour
60 years after Little Rock
I recently published the article, below, about the history of segregation and desegregation in Enid, Oklahoma. Enid is an interesting case, in that it incorporates the development of segregation in Oklahoma Territory, before statehood. It was particularly interesting that segregation was not uniformly applied prior to statehood, and the implementation of laws that forced school … Continue reading 60 years after Little Rock
James R. Neal 