City Hall
Last Tuesday, November 20, my government class benefited from a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the government in Oklahoma. Our trip began with the city council meeting in Downtown, Oklahoma, where we were accompanied by Muneer Awad, the director of CAIR-Oklahoma. He and our government teacher, Lobna Hewedi, had arranged this trip for us. So a great thank you goes out to them!
The city council meeting started with a short introduction by Mayor Mick Cornett. Following it was a small opera performance by a graduate student at OCU. Afterwards, the meeting sped up a bit and the council went through a number of issues, all passed unanimously.
Then, they arrived at the issue that majority of the people were there for. In fact, in this council meeting, there were more people than the seats available, and one of the councilman joked, " We hope that there are these many people in every meeting." So what was that anticipated issue? It was whether a protected clause should be added that would give homosexuals the right to sue an employer for being harassed, fired, or discriminated due to his or her sexual orientation. The issue was presented by councilman Ed Shadid.
Shadid's arguments were a bit weak to me. Firstly, he listed a number of colleges in Oklahoma that had added this clause. He said that gay people had a tragic history, and that even today, they had to live with shame. He argued that job performance should not be judged by sexual orientation and that we should protect the most vulnerable. Then, he went on using Biblical evidence for homosexuality. He also said that city should be the employer and God be the judge. A lot was there that I did not understand, and I did not get the point of the reference to the Bible. Lastly, he pointed out Hitler and his injustices to gay people, and referenced it to what this city was doing.
Next, councilman Ronald "Skip" Kelly spoke out against the amendment. Kelly used the reference of slavery to portray that gays were not being targeted. If it was anyone who was and still are, are blacks. He said that the city did not need to add this clause because there were not enough evidence of discrimination based on sexual orientation. He had gotten a standing ovation.
Another councilman, Larry McAfee, wanted to clarify the issue by asking questions that were left unanswered and also answering them. One of the questions were whether this amendment will result in a better community.? He responded with research by ACLU, that the response doesn't seem positive. At the end, he stood against this amendment, saying that Oklahoma City does not have a problem yet. Therefore, it should not be addressed.
The last councilman, Peter White, spoke for gay rights. All he said was that people have "homophobia" which needs to be ridden and that gays are the most discriminated in the society.
After White, citizens present were given three minutes to speak on the issue. The public was equally divided. A Baptist preacher, against homosexuality, used our Muslim presence to make a point, nastily saying " Muslim women would be horrified if they saw a hairy legged man in the bathroom." In response, Muneer went forward and defended the Muslim community. The last speaker we saw was this writer for the Oklahoma Gazette who gave an emotional speech. After him, we had left. At the end of the day, the clause passed 3-5.
State Capitol
We then went to the State Capitol to meet with Jeannie McDaniel. reporters from the capitol press room, and the secretary of Mary Fallin.
Speaking with State Representative Jeanie McDaniel was wonderful. She was very nice and interesting. She shared with us her position on education, children rights, immigration, and affirmative action. She believes that we just need our schools to slightly improve. Otherwise, America is on the right track. She does not support education systems in countries like India or China because , I totally agree, it harms the creativity of children. Regarding affirmative action, she believes that affirmative action will not harm Oklahoma and that everyone deserves equal opportunity. Regarding immigration, she believes that as long as those immigrants are not breaking the law, then they are not hurting anyone. Lastly, she emphasized the importance of children in our society and the problem of distorted families. It really was a pleasure to meet with her. I admired her a lot.
Next we went to the capitol press room, where we met with three reporters. They gave us insight over their jobs and how media affects government policies and legislatures. Lastly, we went to meet with the Mary Fallin's secretary. She shared information about her daily job and the importance of PR skills, including writing a good press release.
The End
This trip was a great opportunity to learn more than I had ever before. I barely knew anything about the government in the United States, specifically Oklahoma. After this government class and trip, I can say that I have become interested in our government. Once again, thank you Mr. Muneer and Teacher Lobna for this outstanding experience!
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