As much as you, faithful reader of the Lost Ogle, and I have tried to prove otherwise, there are many notable Oklahomans out there who want to continually reinforce the idea that we, as a state, are the right-wing hyper-religious stereotypes that the rest of the country thinks we are. Whether it’s local radio personalities coining the phrase “Guns and ammo for everyone!” days after Sandy Hook, local small-time politicians putting up websites dedicated to the belief that their darker-skinned rival wasn’t born in America, or, as Keith Cressman, pastor at the St. Marks United Methodist Church in Bethany believes, that the Native American warrior shooting an arrow into the sky in the hopes of rain on our license plates is an affront to his Christian beliefs, there’s always gotta be some dude who just has to ruin it for the rest of us.
But, in Cressman’s case, he just might succeed: last June a federal appeals court ruled that the minister's case can proceed. What does this mean? Well, on the negative side, it means that racial bigotry—especially towards Native Americans, such as myself—is alive and well in Oklahoma City. On the plus side, however, it might mean that a new “Design Our New License Plate” contest will be coming up very shortly! Eagerly anticipating the deluge of entrants, I wanted to get my ideas in early. These are plates that, I feel, best describe everything that represent Oklahoma on a sheet of metal that goes on the back of your car.