Political Quotes

“in 1924, when Oklahoma was a very young State, a young lady named Ada was born in Chickasha. Now, you would get that joke if you are from Oklahoma because we have a town in Oklahoma called Ada and a town in Oklahoma called Chickasha. This is a young lady named Ada born in Chickasha. She thrived. She was an excellent student. In fact, she was the valedictorian of her high school, Lincoln High School. She left that and went to college. She stayed 1 year at one college, then transferred to another college and graduated with honors in 1945. She dreamed of being a lawyer. She had graduated with honors. She had graduated valedictorian. She had all the credentials and all the capabilities to do it, but she had one big problem: She was Black. In Oklahoma in the 1940s, there were no law schools that would allow a Black student to attend. So, in Oklahoma, the policy was to help Black students who wanted to be a lawyer leave the State to study somewhere else. She really didn't want to do that. She had graduated from the great Langston University and had a great education there and had every ability to do that. She interviewed with the University of Oklahoma-- interviewed, actually, with the president of the school at that time-- to go through the process to get into the University of Oklahoma law school. She was found to be fully qualified, but the problem was, again, she was Black. And it wasn't just a problem with the University of Oklahoma.…”