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TheUncler: The joke’s on them; Dude’s got the executive desk.
BoinkBoinkEtAliae: I can’t even imagine the fortitude it takes going someplace where you are unwelcome and likely to face physical and verbal abuse. I don’t know if I could ever be that brave.
murdershescribbled: Hey! My grandad took this picture when he worked for the Oklahoman! I don’t really have proof but here’s his obituary, my dad will get a kick out of this. http://m.newsok.com/article/2805749
estheredna: And a room full of teenagers were ok with the grown man in a side room. It’s an ugly picture of a brave man.
BlutNacht: I feel sorry for the guy and he’s long gone. I know what my grandparents had to suffer under in the Jim Crow South. I heard the stories. Even during the 70s & 80s in my city, people would call in to a local talk radio show to complain about Blacks ‘taking over’ their parks, neighborhoods, and jobs.
vila17: It’s crazy to think this was happening less then a century ago.
Tokeli: George McLaurin had a master’s from the University of Kansas, and was a retired professor before he applied to Oklahoma.
kurisu7885: Looks like he was also positioned to make his education as much of a pain as possible.
daedal_doofus: Aside from the obvious, it’s crazy the difference in posture back then. I can’t imagine any university classroom looking like that now. It seems like we’ve gotten so accustomed to slouching.
Edit: maybe it has to do with the chairs forcing this posture??
superpowermuaddib: What surprises me is the amount of black people that fought in the WWII and then came back home to face this amount of racism.
TheSkeletonInsideMe: Dang. It’s already kinda hard being in university when you’re much older than most other students, but this is on a whole other level.
Balhannoth: This is why racism is still so raw for many people. This was *70 years* ago. Many of our grandparents experienced this, either as a white person with the understanding that whites and blacks **should** be separated, or as a black person who was told over and over “you are not the same as us”.
Misleading_Username: Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher applied to OU in 1946 but was denied bc she was black and took them to court. In 1948 she won and the US Supreme Court ruled that African Americans had to have equal access of education as whites. I thought she was the first African American admitted to OU bc that’s what i heard throughout college (alma mater) but apparently she wasn’t admitted to OU Law until 1949. I never knew McLaurin was technically admitted before her. TIL
S_ctrnsitgloriamundi: Cowards. The racists are nothing but cowards.
Asleepystudent: Props to George for breaking the classroom color barrier in a southern state. That guy had some serious balls.
Torsomu: Norman Oklahoma was also a sundown town. He would need to be out of town by 6pm every evening.
epsilonkn0t: This picture breaks my heart. I can’t understand the collective hate of that time
ThouHathNoPowerHere: Off topic but holy shit people dressed classy for college back then. Now it’s all shorts, t-shirt and flip flops. Quite a shame.
i_like_yoghurt: This is why I laugh at rugged individualists when they say affirmative action is unfair/unnecessary because “we’re all equal now”.
Many of the ‘rights’ that young Americans associate with their country didn’t exist as recently as 50 years ago; some as recently as 30 years ago.
Being banned from higher education was a reality for the parents and grandparents of many young black people alive today. When you’re raised in that environment—and your elders lack the knowledge and resources to help you succeed—you’re very likely to fall into the same cycle of poverty and misfortune that trapped them.
tgcp: I think it’s such a interesting period of history to look at now. The idea that this man was deemed intelligent enough to attend the University, but still not a social equal to his white counterparts is a very strange one.
turorinator: This brings tears to my eyes. We kept those who wanted to do well for themselves away from any chances of improvement. And then we complain about why people don’t just ‘get out there’ and work and build their lives. Although I have nothing to with this, (I am Indian), I feel personally humiliated at the impediments this man must have faced due to fellow human beings.
tk1178: Serious question but what other rules did he have to follow in class? Could he participate in class discussions, take part in any groups and ask/answer questions?
mafa7: This photo made me realize that I’ll have to explain these things to this little black boy growing in my belly. I wouldn’t know where to start. The bravery, hell he probably had children of his own. To know that you’re risking your life for basic human rights…I’m eternally grateful
Edit: I couldn’t spell freaking grateful right.
Zaenithon: As a white person, it’s so impossible to imagine being someone sitting in that room apart from him and feeling completely comfortable. What a fucked up world.
faithle55: Does anybody know anything about how he was treated by his fellow students?
kovyvok: Me at every social event I’ve ever been to.
salmon10: Did he graduate?
vanvark: Ok that’s awful and everything else, but desk wise, he got a damn good deal. That things huge
whateverbarever: How strange that this kind of stuff was happening not too long ago.
lipplog: How someone could not become bitter from this is beyond me.
euphonious_munk: I can’t believe people were okay with this shit.
esaym: Wow they all look so much more mature than today’s college kids.
adult_on_reddit: is this the era america was “great” in maga-boi’s?
thecuttingsark: I can’t wrap my head around segregation. Why? What is the reasoning?
theWHexperience: How that man look more fly than all of them combined
Marinapplaud: So so sad…only if most people were smart enough to know we all have African blood in us…why be so hateful? Just disgusting!
Baboobalou: It still makes my blood run cold when I see sick like this. I know it happened but it still begs belief it did.
free_candy_4_real: I wonder if this guy got fair grades. With all the racism and the obviously white teachers who probably didn’t want him there eighter.
LargeMarge_Strikes: He got accepted and he fell asleep at his desk
Whaddaya Say?