Jim Crow and DiscriminationKu Klux Klan is Revived

THE KKK IN OKLAHOMA

Oklahoma was no different from other southern states—the laws in the constitution tried to limit the economic and physical freedoms of formerly enslaved peoples by adopting Black Codes and welcoming Jim Crow

JIM CROW IN OKLAHOMA

Poll Taxes were legal ways to collect money from potential voters

Many could not afford to cast their ballots

POLL TAXES

Oklahoma supported separating the races—following the pattern of states bordering the Confederacy

City Hall in Oklahoma City 1958

JIM CROW IN OKLAHOMA

Statute required a separate district to be established for colored children wherever there are at least eight black children, 1897

There were separate housing areas for the races

Blacks could not own or rent property in certain areas

SEPARATE HOUSING AND SCHOOLS

The Ku Klux Klan had revived following the war and carried out a war against blacks—as well as Catholics, Jews, and immigrants

AFTER WORLD WAR I

The masks and cloaks became symbols of terror

Thousands of African Americans were killed and terrorized for decades into the 20th century around the country

Oklahoma was no different

Many well to do members of society and the government were members of the Klan

Encouraged white supremacy and in their positions of power could enforce the Jim Crow laws

KKK HAD A STRONG FOLLOWING IN OK

The Klan’s bloody outrages around Oklahoma caused the governor to declare martial law (law enforcement by the military)

WALTON DECLARES MARTIAL LAW

Men were lynched all over the south and many feared for their lives over the tiniest indiscretions

The lynching of Laura Nelson and her son was watched by dozens of onlookers in May 1911 in Okemah, OK

LYNCHINGS

Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern

breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh, Then the sudden smell of burning fl esh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop.

STRANGE FRUIT, BILLIE HOLIDAY