When you’re fighting evil and willful ignorance, there are few compliments greater than the unease and anger of the evil and willfully ignorant. By that measure, Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg is doing great work, and the most vile, ignorant and evil aspects of our patriarchal society are churning to the surface in … Continue reading The rape culture rears its ugly head
Civil Rights
Truth, reconciliation and digging up the ugliness of our past
In order for our society to secure a more just, harmonious and peaceful future, there is perhaps no endeavor more important than a compassionate and honest accounting of our past. Tulsa mayor G.T. Bynum reopened an important effort on that front this week, with attempts to locate and excavate the unmarked graves of victims from … Continue reading Truth, reconciliation and digging up the ugliness of our past
‘A generational fight’ — Protest organizer recalls desegregating Enid restaurants
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
Lunch counter sit-ins: 60 years later, organizers recall desegregating restaurants
This package of two articles originally was published in the Enid News & Eagle, Enid, Okla., on Aug. 26, 2018, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of lunch counter protests that ended segregation in the city's restaurants and helped shape later civil rights protests throughout the South. ENID, Okla., Aug. 27, 2018 — Sixty years … Continue reading Lunch counter sit-ins: 60 years later, organizers recall desegregating restaurants
Youth leading us to right side of history
Hundreds of thousands of youth are expected to protest tomorrow in the March for Our Lives — a student-led movement calling for legislation to effectively address gun violence. Since the Feb. 14 massacre that claimed 17 lives in Parkland, Fla., the survivors and their peers have organized more than 800 demonstrations around the United States and … Continue reading Youth leading us to right side of history
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
Resegregation
More than 60 years on, many schools are less integrated than when the civil rights movement began, and the opportunity gap persists. ENID, Okla. — Six decades after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled school segregation unlawful, local and state minority leaders still are working to overcome the effects of segregation. This work continues amidst a mounting … Continue reading Resegregation
Not much has changed
"Not much has changed." Those were the words yesterday of a 73 year-old museum curator and Black Indian activist I was interviewing when I asked her how much, in her estimation, had race relations changed since her childhood in the 40s and 50s. She grew up in a segregated school system, in a race-zoned … Continue reading Not much has changed
James R. Neal 