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Black Legal History in Oklahoma

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Black Legal History in Oklahoma ALSO INSIDE: OBA & Diversity Awards • New Members Admitted • JNC Elections Legislative Update • New Member Benefit • Solo & Small Firm Conference Volume 92 — No. 5 — May 2021 Black Legal History in Oklahoma contents May 2021 • Vol. 92 • No. 5 THEME: BLACK LEGAL HISTORY IN OKLAHOMA Editor: Melissa DeLacerda Cover Art: Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher by Mitsuno Reedy from the Oklahoma State Capitol Art Collection, used with permission, courtesy of the Oklahoma Arts Council FEATURES PLUS 6 Blazing the Trail: Oklahoma Pioneer African 36 OBA Awards: Leading is a Choice, American Attorneys Let Us Honor It BY JOHN G. BROWNING BY KARA I. SMITH 12 ‘As Soon As’ Three Simple Words That Crumbled 39 New Member Benefit: OBA Newsstand Graduate School Segregation: ADA LOis SipUEL V. 40 Celebrate Diversity With an Award BOARD OF REGENTS Nomination BY CHERYL BROWN WATTLEY 42 New Lawyers Take Oath in Admissions 18 GUINN V. U.S.: States’ Rights and the 15th Amendment Ceremony BY ANTHONY HENDRicks 44 Legislative Monitoring Committee Report: 24 The Tulsa Race Massacre: Echoes of 1921 Felt a Session Winding Down Century Later BY MILES PRINGLE BY JOHN G. BROWNING 45 Solo & Small Firm Conference 30 Oklahoma’s Embrace of the White Racial Identity BY DANNE L. JOHNSON AND PAMELA JUAREZ 46 Judicial Nominating Commission Elections DEPARTMENTS 4 From the President 50 From the Executive Director 52 Law Practice Tips 58 Ethics & Professional Responsibility 60 Board of Governors Actions 64 Oklahoma Bar Foundation News 68 Young Lawyers Division 73 For Your Information 74 Bench and Bar Briefs 80 In Memoriam 82 Editorial Calendar 88 The Back Page PAGES 36 and 40 – PAGE 42 – OBA & Diversity Awards New Lawyers Take Oath FROM THE PRESIDENT Words, Life of Frederick Douglass Are Inspiring By Mike Mordy HE THEME OF THIS BAR JOURNAL, “BLACK who was known as a “slave breaker,” and I TLegal History,” reminded me of Frederick Douglass, have read he beat Douglass so regularly that who was not an attorney but had all the attributes his wounds did not heal between beatings. that we as attorneys strive for and admire – being a Douglass would later write the beatings broke great orator and writer. His writings and teachings his body, soul and spirit. are extremely relevant today. He stood for the propo- Douglass ultimately escaped in 1838, at the sition that all people are created equal and deserve the age of 20 and made his way to New York City. freedom to pursue happiness in our country. He was He later wrote to a friend, “I felt as one might committed to the principles set forth in the Declaration feel upon escaping from a den of hungry lions. of Independence that all people are born free and Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, equal, with inherent rights which no one may violate. may be depicted; but gladness and joy, like He taught himself to read, taught himself a political the rainbow, defied the skill of pen or pencil.” philosophy, and then by his own efforts, he became one I note Frederick Douglass’ travails as a of our nation’s most important and historical intellects slave because it is hard to imagine a man born through his own hard work and perseverance. into slavery in America, separated from his It is incredible to me that Frederick Douglass was mother as an infant and beaten unmercifully, born into slavery and was abused and beaten yet came but then came to support the Constitution and to write that all people were entitled to the pursuit to become a historical giant in the legacy of of happiness and self-reliance and to peace, security our country. Even though he was treated with and freedom. I think it is important to note that his unimaginable degradation, he did not hold background and upbringing did a grudge against society, but rather opposed not create in him animosity toward separatism and sought equality for all. society. He was born in his grand- Writer Timothy Sandefur notes in his mother’s log cabin, separated from recent book, Frederick Douglass: Self Made Man, his mother as an infant and raised that “at a time of increasing cynicism and by his maternal grandparents until racial animosity, it’s worthwhile to remember the age of 6, when he was “given” that in an era when race relations were far to a couple in Baltimore, Maryland. worse than they are now, Frederick Douglass The wife taught him the alphabet stood for the proposition that all people are and made sure he was fed and slept created equal and deserve the freedom to pur- in a bed with sheets and a blanket; sue happiness in the United States.” We need however, her husband disapproved. to familiarize ourselves with Douglass’s teach- He believed if the slave could read, ing and his beliefs as to individualism, private he would become unmanageable property, capitalism, free enterprise and con- and ultimately sad because of his stitutionalism. It is important to remember all predicament. Douglass understood of the guaranties granted to us and be assured President Mordy practices from this rhetoric at a young age the that we, as attorneys, protect the constitutional in Ardmore. importance of reading and writ- rights of others in need, in whatever manner [email protected] 580-223-4384 ing. He was sent to a poor farmer that we can, big or small. 4 | MAY 2021 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL is a publication of the Oklahoma Bar Association. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2021 Oklahoma Bar Association. Statements or opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Volume 92 — No. 5 — May 2021 Board of Editors or staff. Although advertising copy is reviewed, no endorsement of any product or service offered by any advertisement is intended or implied by publication. JOURNAL STAFF BOARD OF EDITORS Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their ads, and the OBA reserves JOHN MORRIS WILLIAMS MELISSA DELACERDA, Stillwater, Chair the right to edit or reject any advertising copy Editor-in-Chief for any reason. Legal articles carried in THE [email protected] LUKE ADAMS, Clinton OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL are selected CAROL A. MANNING, Editor AARON BUNDY, Tulsa by the Board of Editors. Information about [email protected] submissions can be found at www.okbar.org. CASSANDRA L. COATS, Vinita LAUREN RIMMER BAR CENTER STAFF Advertising Manager VIRGINIA D. HENSON, Norman John Morris Williams, Executive Director; [email protected] Gina L. Hendryx, General Counsel; Jim C. SCOTT JONES, Oklahoma City Calloway, Director of Management Assistance TONY MORALES, Shawnee Program; Craig D. Combs, Director of Administration; Janet K. Johnson, Director of ROY TUCKER, Muskogee Educational Programs; Beverly Petry Lewis, Administrator MCLE Commission; Carol A. DAVID E. YOUNGBLOOD, Atoka Manning, Director of Communications; Dawn Shelton, Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing; Richard Stevens, Ethics Counsel; Robbin Watson, Director of Information Technology; Loraine Dillinder Farabow, Peter Haddock, Tracy Pierce Nester, Katherine Ogden, Steve Sullins, Assistant General Counsels OFFICERS & Les Arnold, Julie A. Bays, Gary Berger, BOARD OF GOVERNORS Debbie Brink, Jennifer Brumage, Melody Claridge, Cheryl Corey, Ben Douglas, Johnny MICHAEL C. MORDY, President, Ardmore; Marie Floyd, Matt Gayle, Suzi Hendrix, Debra CHARLES E. GEISTER III, Vice President, Oklahoma City; JAMES R. Jenkins, Kiel Kondrick, Rhonda Langley, HICKS, President-Elect, Tulsa; SUSAN B. SHIELDS, Immediate Jamie Lane, Durrel Lattimore, Edward Past President, Oklahoma City; MICHAEL J. DAVIS, Durant; TIM E. Maguire, Renee Montgomery, Whitney DECLERCK, Enid; JOSHUA A. EDWARDS, Ada; AMBER PECKIO Mosby, Lauren Rimmer, Tracy Sanders, Mark GARRETT, Tulsa; BENJAMIN R. HILFIGER, Muskogee; ANDREW E. Schneidewent, Kurt Stoner, Krystal Willis, HUTTER, Norman; DAVID T. MCKENZIE, Oklahoma City; MILES T. Laura Willis & Roberta Yarbrough PRINGLE, Oklahoma City; ROBIN L. ROCHELLE, Lawton; KARA I. SMITH, Oklahoma City; MICHAEL R. VANDERBURG, Ponca City; Oklahoma Bar Association 405-416-7000 RICHARD D. WHITE JR., Tulsa; APRIL J. MOANING, Chairperson, Toll Free 800-522-8065 OBA Young Lawyers Division, Oklahoma City FAX 405-416-7001 Continuing Legal Education 405-416-7029 The Oklahoma Bar Journal (ISSN 0030-1655) is published monthly, Ethics Counsel 405-416-7055 except June and July, by the Oklahoma Bar Association, 1901 N. Lincoln General Counsel 405-416-7007 Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105. Periodicals postage Lawyers Helping Lawyers 800-364-7886 paid at Oklahoma City, Okla. and at additional mailing offices. Mgmt. Assistance Program 405-416-7008 Mandatory CLE 405-416-7009 Subscriptions $60 per year. Law students registered with the OBA and Board of Bar Examiners 405-416-7075 senior members may subscribe for $30; all active members included in Oklahoma Bar Foundation 405-416-7070 dues. Single copies: $3 Postmaster Send address changes to the Oklahoma Bar Association, www.okbar.org P.O. Box 53036, Oklahoma City, OK 73152-3036. THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL MAY 2021 | 5 BLACK LEGAL HISTORY IN OKLAHOMA Blazing the Trail: Oklahoma Pioneer African American Attorneys By John G. Browning HE STORY OF OKLAHOMA’S EARLIEST African American attorneys is inextricably Tintertwined with the state’s roots as a multiethnic land of opportunity. Perhaps its first African American lawyer, Sugar T. George, embodied this more than any of his trailblaz- ing counterparts. George (sometimes identified as “George Sugar”) was born into slavery in 1827 in what was then the Muskogee Nation of Georgia. George and his family were among those removed along with their Native American owners in 1828. When the Civil War broke out, addition to assisting other freedmen opportunity. It also represented a George joined with the “Loyal with legal matters, in 1875 George chance to create towns where Black Creeks” and Seminoles under earned the then-handsome sum people would be free to exercise Opothle Yahola, who fought of $25 serving as prosecuting their political rights without inter- Confederate forces in Kansas.
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