Someone Rocked the Boat

I grew up in Oklahoma City in the late fifties and sixties.  We lived on the Southwest side of our city, which was populated mostly by blue collar light skinned humans.  While Native Americans and Latinos were a part of the everyday world, there were no African Americans in our neighborhoods or schools.  My memory tells me that in our home, racism was slightly more covert than overt.  But it was unequivocally present.  The rule was unspoken and unwritten, but somehow, I knew that I was not supposed to fraternize with black folks.   But that’s not to say that black folks weren’t mentioned.  I remember the name of one black person who struck fear into the hearts of everyone in our area.  That name was Clara Luper.  As a child (8 years old) I assumed that this Luper person was a powerful enemy.  A force of evil to be reckoned with.  I didn’t know what this person had done, but it must have been something horrible.

Turns out, Mrs. Luper, a mother of three, was a history teacher at Dunjee High School (an all-black High School) in the Northeast Oklahoma County area. Her sin?  She staged a nonviolent “sit-in” at a drugstore. She and some students didn’t leave their seats at the counter when they were told to.

 Mrs. Luper was the advisor for the NAACP Youth Council in Oklahoma City. 

Clara was born in 1923 in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma.  She went on to receive her bachelor’s degree from Langston University.  Then, as the first African American admitted to the graduate history program at the University of Oklahoma, she received her master’s degree in history in 1951.

As a teacher and as an advisor for the NAACP Youth Council for the Oklahoma City area, in 1958, she decided to stage a “sit-in” at the Katz drugstore in downtown Oklahoma City.  This “sit-in” launched the sit-in movement in America.  Her courage, passion for the rights of her people and her persistence eventually helped lead to the end of segregation in public accommodations in Oklahoma City.  

I was an adult before I fully realized why she was so demonized. She was a school teacher who challenged the system, spoke truth to power and didn’t back down. As a person who believed in nonviolent protest, she continued to participate in marches and demonstrations and was arrested 26 times for her non-violent work.  All because she worked for civil rights and against segregation.  

For me the story of Clara Luper serves as a beacon of hope.  A reminder that a mother of three and a High School history teacher can actually re-write the history that is taught in schools.  

Today, in downtown Oklahoma City the “Clara Luper National Sit-in Plaza” is located on the exact spot where the Katz drugstore once stood. May we all seek the courage to rock the boat.