Political Quotes

“a week ago, I did a television interview on race relations in America. They asked me to talk a little bit about what happened in Tulsa in 1921. The worst race massacre in American history occurred in Tulsa in 1921. It was May 31, overnight, into June 1. I was on television a week ago, describing the event of how a group of White rioters had marched into Greenwood--what was called Black Wall Street--and had killed up to 300 people there. They had set Greenwood on fire, destroying homes and businesses. Many people at home don't know this, but everyone in this Chamber does. As I was talking, I was just talking to a camera lens and couldn't tell what was on TV at the time. There were pictures of a town in the United States that was currently on fire while I was describing a race massacre that had happened 99 years ago that weekend. We have come a long way with the issue of race in America, but we clearly have a very long way to go. We have four centuries of racial inequality stacked on top of each other. While we break through those things step by step, we have things that we can do. I have been on the phone for days with friends and with people whom I know from all over Oklahoma--from all backgrounds--and have been talking about race relationships and where we go as a nation. Some people throw up their hands and say: I don't know what to do. Many people have an idea, but everyone wants the situation to get better.…”