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Description
On the 60th anniversary of the August 19, 1958 Katz Drug Store sit-in, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt tells the story of Clara Luper and her courageous “sit-inners.”
A
I'm
David
Holt,
the
mayor
of
Oklahoma
City.
If
you
were
to
stand
on
this
spot
60
years
ago
near
the
corner
of
Robinson
and
main
in
downtown
Oklahoma
City,
you
would
have
been
standing
outside
the
front
door
of
caps.
Drugstore
the
building
is
long
gone.
Katz
drugstore
is
long
gone
too,
but
something
happened
at
this
corner
60
years
ago
that
lingers
something
that
changed
the
course
of
history.
Here
in
Oklahoma
City
and
across
the
nation
in
1958
in
Oklahoma
City
people
of
color
were
still
openly
treated
as
if
they
were
invisible.
A
One
such
example
was
the
fact
that
an
African
American
couldn't
eat
lunch
at
the
counter
of
a
Katz
drugstore.
This
indignity
was
representative
of
all
the
many
ways.
African
Americans
were
dehumanized
in
Oklahoma
City
in
August
of
1958
Clara
Luper
a
35
year
old,
Oklahoma
City
schoolteacher
decided.
She
was
no
longer
willing
to
accept
these.
In
Justices.
In
the
months
before
her
history
altering
decision,
Clara
had
taken
a
group
to
New
York
City
made
up
of
members
of
the
Oklahoma
City
in
double-a-c-p
Youth
Council
as
Clara
would
say.
A
A
little
bit
of
freedom
is
a
dangerous
thing
and
the
group
tasted
freedom
on
that
trip.
They
ate
at
lunch
counters
in
northern
states
and
wondered
why
they
could
not
experience
that
back
in
Oklahoma
City.
And
so,
if
you
had
been
standing
here
60
years
ago
on
August
19th
1958,
you
would
have
watched
Clara
Luper
walk
through
the
doors
of
caps
joined
by
a
handful
of
other
adult
chaperones
and
about
a
dozen
young
people
ranging
from
ages
6
to
17.
A
They
were
on
a
mission,
a
mission
to
do
something
that
every
white
person
in
OKC
took
for
granted.
They
were
determined
to
eat
at
the
lunch
counter
at
Katz's
three
years
after
the
murder
of
Emmett
Till
and
in
Oklahoma
still
dominated
by
segregation
and
Jim
Crow.
This
simple
act
was
not
welcomed
with
applause
or
awards
or
videos
by
the
mayor.
In
fact,
it
was
a
dangerous
mission
and
it
required
remarkable
courage.
A
This
lunch
counter
at
the
Oklahoma
History
Center
recreates,
the
counter
at
Katz
drugstore,
Clara
Luper,
and
her
group
became
very
familiar
with
this
counter
because
they
were
not
served
that
day
60
years
ago,
and
so
they
continued
to
sit
becoming
pioneers
of
a
protest
tactic
known
as
a
sit-in,
regardless
of
insults
or
threats
of
violence.
They
would
not
respond
because
they
had
been
trained
in
nonviolent
protest
and
they
set
until
Katz
drug
finally
changed
their
policies
and
served
the
group
eating
the
hamburger
at
the
lunch.
Counter
was
no
trivial
thing,
as
Clara
would
say.
A
The
group
would
tell
their
success
to
other
activists
from
other
parts
of
the
country
in
1960,
in
Greensboro,
North
Carolina,
a
group
of
civil
rights
activists
inspired
by
Clara
Luper
and
her
young
sit-in
errs
held
their
own
sit-in
soon.
Others
followed
and
the
sit-in
became
a
key
element
of
the
civil
rights
movement
of
the
1960s.
A
That
movement
in
turn
led
to
a
lot
more
change
than
just
who
could
eat
at
a
lunch
counter,
though
it
did
that
too,
in
1964,
the
Oklahoma
City
Council
passed
an
ordinance
banning
racial
discrimination
at
any
establishment
serving
food,
but
across
Oklahoma
City
and
across
the
nation.
Much-Needed
change
came
in
all
aspects
of
life,
though
what
happened
in
Oklahoma
City
on
August
19
1958
helped
ignite
a
movement
that
altered
the
course
of
American
history.
Clara
Luper
did
not
enter
efforts
at
Katz
drugstore.
A
A
Northeast
23rd
Street
in
Oklahoma
City
is
known
as
Clara
Luper
corridor.
This
is
certainly
merited,
but
I
would
submit
that
the
weight
of
history
demands
more.
As
we
commemorate
the
60th
anniversary
of
the
cat's.
Sit-In
I
encourage
everyone
in
Oklahoma
City
to
celebrate
the
incredible
achievements
that
were
sparked
on
August
19
1958,
the
positive
effect
it
had
on
Oklahoma
City
and
the
inspiration
engaged
to
civil
rights
activists
around
the
nation.
A
The
story
of
Clara
Luper
and
her
young
activists
is
one
that
should
be
told
as
long
as
we
tell
the
stories
of
courageous
pioneers
as
we
move
beyond
this
important
anniversary,
I
will
stand
ready
to
work
with
interested
people
to
permanently
commemorate
the
site
of
the
1958
sit-in.
It
is
long
past
time
that
this
hallowed
ground
speak
to
us
and
I
will
pray
that
the
courageous
actions
of
August
19
1958
continue
to
inspire
us
in
Oklahoma
City
to
stand
each
day
for
a
more
just
society.