Jim Crow In Oklahoma City

[Doug Loudenback]

I have majorly updated the Jim Crow page so it reads better and is less cluttered with graphic articles. Most articles are now accessible via links with the essence of the articles covered by text in the article. Made some "fact" corrections, also.

[RealJimbo]

I remember riding the bus downtown with my mother in the '50s. Black people sat in the back of the bus and I couldn't, being a little white boy. We went to Children's Hospital, a state-run institution and there were whites-only restrooms and colored restrooms as well as water fountains and waiting rooms. It made no sense to me then and makes no sense to me now, looking back. We went downtown once in about '57 or '58 and encountered a sit-in at Green's lunch counter (Katz was across the street and there was a sit-in there, too). Mom took me down the street to John A. Brown's department store to avoid any trouble (there was none).

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks, RealJimbo, good comment.

RealJimbo, there is something majorly wrong with something in your set-up ... don't know for sure what it might be but the visual impression is less than expected and desired ... I suspect that it has to do with your avatar's size, which appears to be taking up the whole horizontal screen. Probably, you need to crop your avatar so that it doesn't include space beyond the borders of the actual image.

[mireaux]

Jim Crow in Oklahoma City??...Nah,..Id rather see the Black Crowes in Oklahoma City!!

[Doug Loudenback]

Jim Crow in Oklahoma City??...Nah,..Id rather see the Black Crowes in Oklahoma City!!

What is it that you meant to say in plain speech, mireaux (before anyone jumps to conclusions)?

[mireaux]

What is it that you meant to say in plain speech, mireaux (before anyone jumps to conclusions)?

you never heard of the band, The Black Crowes?!??..youve got to be kiddin me.

take the Chet Atkins 8 track out of your truck for a change.

[Doug Loudenback]

No. Never did.

[striipidy]

I know is a little off topic, but where would Asians have gone to school? My mom went to Central and didn't remember any Asians OR Blacks but she didn't know about other schools and their set-up.

[papaOU]

My Father said when he was growing up he and his family as well as other whites were never really around blacks. Some rode the same bus to Chandler but were almost completly over looked. He graduated from Central and of course none there. As far as jokes and humor went all were "Pat and Mike" jokes. Jabs at the Irish.

[Doug Loudenback]

Racial segregation was "white" and "black", the constitutional definition of "colored" being a person with any degree of African blood. Everyone else was constitutionally "white."

[Generals64]

Racial segregation was "white" and "black", the constitutional definition of "colored" being a person with any degree of African blood. Everyone else was constitutionally "white."

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Hey guy, I can still remember the labeled "Colored" & "white" on the water fountains in Woolworth's...also, the Colorers could NOT used the bathroom inside in Ardmore, Oklahoma....At the last meeting I brought a copy of the Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan. Will loan it to you to make a copy if your want for your Archives. I can NEVER remember being around all white Kids...I am just enough Native American on one side as I can remember that My Grandmother on the other side was relatives to the Younger Gang (rode with Frank and Jesse James).....Which is right/////????? Which is wrong?????Color should never enter when a friendship or anything else comes up.....It's the not the color of a man's skin, it's the size of his heart and faith that grows within...See ya dude...I found some really neat old things in my in-laws barn....
By the way, I am from OKLAHOMA and proud to be called an "Okie". The "N" that gets everyone riled up should remember that most of the first Slaves brought to America were captured from a country called NIGAR or Nigeria as most of us know it now....Please don't jump back for a few days I've got the Flu.....but I have so many friends of Color that I don't even think I can count that far..... Ya Ta Hey.....Kemo Sabe....

[Doug Loudenback]

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Hey guy, I can still remember the labeled "Colored" & "white" on the water fountains in Woolworth's...also, the Colorers could NOT used the bathroom inside in Ardmore, Oklahoma....At the last meeting I brought a copy of the Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan. Will loan it to you to make a copy if your want for your Archives. I can NEVER remember being around all white Kids...I am just enough Native American on one side as I can remember that My Grandmother on the other side was relatives to the Younger Gang (rode with Frank and Jesse James).....Which is right/////????? Which is wrong?????Color should never enter when a friendship or anything else comes up.....It's the not the color of a man's skin, it's the size of his heart and faith that grows within...See ya dude...I found some really neat old things in my in-laws barn....
By the way, I am from OKLAHOMA and proud to be called an "Okie". The "N" that gets everyone riled up should remember that most of the first Slaves brought to America were captured from a country called NIGAR or Nigeria as most of us know it now....Please don't jump back for a few days I've got the Flu.....but I have so many friends of Color that I don't even think I can count that far..... Ya Ta Hey.....Kemo Sabe....

Thanks, Generals64,

Yes, it is in my "list of things to do" to make a very thorough article on the Klan, and I'd love to have a copy of Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan, understanding, of course, that the title is an oxymoron. It would be great background for the article.

[papaOU]

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Hey guy, I can still remember the labeled "Colored" & "white" on the water fountains in Woolworth's...also, the Colorers could NOT used the bathroom inside in Ardmore, Oklahoma....At the last meeting I brought a copy of the Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan. Will loan it to you to make a copy if your want for your Archives. I can NEVER remember being around all white Kids...I am just enough Native American on one side as I can remember that My Grandmother on the other side was relatives to the Younger Gang (rode with Frank and Jesse James).....Which is right/////????? Which is wrong?????Color should never enter when a friendship or anything else comes up.....It's the not the color of a man's skin, it's the size of his heart and faith that grows within...See ya dude...I found some really neat old things in my in-laws barn....
By the way, I am from OKLAHOMA and proud to be called an "Okie". The "N" that gets everyone riled up should remember that most of the first Slaves brought to America were captured from a country called NIGAR or Nigeria as most of us know it now....Please don't jump back for a few days I've got the Flu.....but I have so many friends of Color that I don't even think I can count that far..... Ya Ta Hey.....Kemo Sabe....

Never got into the racial nonsense either. While growing up my friends were mostly Native American or Hispanic. Often went down to the Salvation Army Club on S.W.5 and Hudson. Played basketball, ping pong, football, you name it all were integrated. Played basketball with the Lion's Center at 37Th and S. Robinson. Now that did not have any blacks there but the teams we played were integrated or totally black.
When busing in Okc started I went to Capitol Hill Jr. High and on to Capitol Hill High School. Always caught hell from people I knew because they were made up of black and white's. NEVER TOOK SIDES!!

[Generals64]

Thanks, Generals64,

Yes, it is in my "list of things to do" to make a very thorough article on the Klan, and I'd love to have a copy of Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan, understanding, of course, that the title is an oxymoron. It would be great background for the article.

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Done deal..I'll get it to you pretty quick...

[jmpokc1957]

I can remember Northwest OKC( NW 63 & Meridian area ) being very segregated when I grew up there in the 60's and 70's. The only blacks we ever saw were the city garbage men. Us kids would always use the "N-word" when taunting each other. I went to Putnam City schools and I'm trying to think when I saw the first black kids in any of the schools I went to. I think it was early 70's. I do remember neighbors talking about it and coming up with ways to rationalize it.

Quite simply, in the 60's, if anyone saw a black man in the neighborhood they would call the police. That was the mind set. We don't think that way now, but what it was is what it was.

I also remember the school busing controversy and many families moving to the Putnam City district to escape it.

Mike

[PennyQuilts]

I grew up at that time and lived on the east side until 1975. Millwood was about 98% black at the time so I was a definite white minority and treated like garbage, beat up and called all kinds of racial slurs at school, daily - any minority tends to be treated that way when the majority feels superior and empowered. I moved to the 63rd and Classen area in 1975, then out to Bethany in 1977. It has certainly become more diverse over time but I still don't recall it being so bad that the police would be called if anyone saw a black person. But that was the 70's, perhaps the 60's were different. But that is history - the sad thing is that to this day, there is still a tendency for groups to flock together, and it isn't about being shunned, it is because of preference, the need/want for certain types of homes in a given price range, schools, etc.

[Generals64]

I grew up at that time and lived on the east side until 1975. Millwood was about 98% black at the time so I was a definite white minority and treated like garbage, beat up and called all kinds of racial slurs at school, daily - any minority tends to be treated that way when the majority feels superior and empowered. I moved to the 63rd and Classen area in 1975, then out to Bethany in 1977. It has certainly become more diverse over time but I still don't recall it being so bad that the police would be called if anyone saw a black person. But that was the 70's, perhaps the 60's were different. But that is history - the sad thing is that to this day, there is still a tendency for groups to flock together, and it isn't about being shunned, it is because of preference, the need/want for certain types of homes in a given price range, schools, etc.

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hey my friend.....I think it's hard to think about someone beating YOU up.....Even Prunepicker is afraid of you...lol

[PennyQuilts]

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hey my friend.....I think it's hard to think about someone beating YOU up.....Even Prunepicker is afraid of you...lol

Why do you think I'm so tough NOW??? I was a skinny little white girl with a thick southern drawl (which tagged me - obviously! - as someone who wanted to keep black people down). The girls' gym locker room was hell on a daily basis.

[papaOU]

Why do you think I'm so tough NOW??? I was a skinny little white girl with a thick southern drawl (which tagged me - obviously! - as someone who wanted to keep black people down). The girls' gym locker room was hell on a daily basis.

I am glad to hear from you. Was thinking about you at Coit's.

I grew-up smack dab in the middle of Capitol Hill, 26th and Lee. I don't remember ever seeing (noticing) a black other than at the Boy's Club, 5th and Hudson. I think I was I was in 8th grade at CHJH when the busing started. By the time I was attending CHHS it was bands against bands. Or bands against one.

I was looking through the Oklahoman's archives classifieds. I was surprised to see the many ads that had "white's only" or no blacks.

[Doug Loudenback]

Thanks, Generals64,

Yes, it is in my "list of things to do" to make a very thorough article on the Klan, and I'd love to have a copy of Ideals of the Ku Klux Klan, understanding, of course, that the title is an oxymoron. It would be great background for the article.

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Done deal..I'll get it to you pretty quick...

Tic toc tic toc the mouse ran up the clock ...

[Generals64]

Tic toc tic toc the mouse ran up the clock ...

oops, I forgot.....I'll bring it to the next meeting....Sorry

[Prunepicker]

How about,

Hicory dicory doc,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down.
Hickory dickory doc.

Does this have something to do with Jim Crow laws?
Am I missing something?

[Prunepicker]

I grew-up smack dab in the middle of Capitol Hill, 26th and Lee.
I don't remember ever seeing (noticing) a black other than at the
Boy's Club, 5th and Hudson.

There was a black kid at Heronville in 1959. I know because I
was there. We were all standing in line waiting to get a drink
after recess. When the black kid got his drink this nut raised up
his hand and says, "we can't drink from here!" I said, "why", and
he pointed at the black kid. "What matter does that make?"
We all pushed around him and drank from the fountain and
nobody died. I had no idea what he was talking about until a
few years later. We weren't raised to be racists or to hate
people who looked different.

That was so stupid.

[papaOU]

There was a black kid at Heronville in 1959. I know because I
was there. We were all standing in line waiting to get a drink
after recess. When the black kid got his drink this nut raised up
his hand and says, "we can't drink from here!" I said, "why", and
he pointed at the black kid. "What matter does that make?"
We all pushed around him and drank from the fountain and
nobody died. I had no idea what he was talking about until a
few years later. We weren't raised to be racists or to hate
people who looked different.

That was so stupid.

My former Mother-in-law was born in England raised in Canada ans spent most of her life in Southern California. She met and married a Louisiana boy in San Diego during WWII. Since he spent his younger years in La. working rail yards, he was not allowed to go overseas. After the war they would take a trip every 2 or 3 years to see his family. Roads were cruddy and no a/c in the cars. She packed enough clothing to wear out, while they were and wash the clothes for a return trip. Her sister-in-law took her into town. Big sign on front door: WHITES ONLY! We can't go here, I have colored clothes as weel

[zachtaylor alum]

I went to Harding High, which became Harding Jr. High and I then went to Northeast High. I was bused there for most classes and went to math at John Marshall, as part of the cluster plan. Kids from NE, Marshall, NW and Classen were bused all over the city to more than one school a day, in an attempt to desegregate the schools. My family fervently believed in desegregation, but this did not integrate the communities. We had no chance to have extracurricular activities at the schools we attended for different subjects. It was a shallow attempt to end de facto segregation and it only lasted a couple of years.