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Wednesday, August 13, 2003

"I say this as a sixth-generation Oklahoma Chickasaw who grew up following all the rules, working hard in school, earning scholarships for degrees that my parents wouldn't have been able to afford, leaving my hometown of Wapanucka and moving to the East Coast for a graduate degree and then a job. Five years later, upon returning to the Chickasaw Nation to work for my tribe, after having worked in New York and Pennsylvania and traveling extensively around the world, I found that Oklahomans aren't ready to receive a member of the "creative class."

My experience in urban areas was that many people saw me as, and I am quoting a former elected official of the state, "that nice Indian boy that did so well for himself." In the rural areas, many people considered me "citified." Some of this may be due to personality, but the outstanding lesson I have learned is that Oklahoma is still a state of factions. "

Get the Story:
Steve Denson: Oklahoma must embrace diversity (The Daily Oklahoman 8/13)
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