OKLAHOMA CITY – Last week, journalist Connie Chung returned to Oklahoma City for an event at the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. While she was welcomed by those in attendance this time, such was not the case 31 years ago.
“Can you handle this? Can this fire department handle this? I know you’re doing a great job, but it’s extraordinarily difficult,” Chung asked my friend, Assistant OKC Fire Chief Jon Hansen. The question was met with anger by those who felt she had insulted our firefighters and first responders. She quickly issued an apology, but it was not well met, leading to her dismissal as a newscaster.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum invited her to speak at their “Better Conversations” series. The program fosters civil dialog on sensitive topics, using the 1995 bombing legacy of resilience to bridge community divides. This was the case with Ms. Chung, who said she felt forgiven and welcomed.
This overall effort led the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) to honor the Memorial with our Organizational Advocate of the Year Award in 2025 as they involve young people in their many projects encouraging civility in our society.
“The Oklahoma Standard” is an ideal grown in the aftermath of the bombing; we even watermark the term on our state’s driver license. The Memorial established a statewide initiative under this banner, preserving and promoting a culture of caring citizens by encouraging “Acts of Service, Honor, and Kindness.”
Those running for office across Oklahoma should bear this in mind. We are less than two months from the Primary Election on June 16, and the candidates are putting on quite a show. Unfortunately, rhetoric is not corresponding with the ideals “The Oklahoma Standard” represents, especially for children.
The so-called culture wars get more attention in primaries – especially closed primaries like we have in Oklahoma – than actual solutions to real challenges.
For example, a recent report in Oklahoma Watch noted that “53% of likely Republican primary voters said cultural issues such as banning Sharia law and transgender surgeries for youth would be vital when deciding which candidate to support.” Of all Republicans polled, only 39% put day-to-day government functions ahead of culture war issues.
Similarly, Democrats primary voters have their own culture war issues and, like Republican primary voters, tend to skew more extreme than General Election voters. Nationally, 48% of Democratic voters are either “progressive” (37%) or “woke” (11%), according to a study by the Manhattan Institute. Only 47% of the Democratic primary voters put more stock in a functioning government than culture issues and less than half of them have shown a willingness to vote for a candidate rather than a party.
Primary voters who are frustrated that their candidate lost often do not return to the polls to vote in the November General Election, leading to low turnout, and Oklahoma was among the lowest turnout of any state in 2024.
Unfortunately, if this year follows past elections, Oklahoma will rank last in voters showing up to the polls in November. With what people are hearing from candidates, can you really blame them?
It might be too late to call upon candidates to run on ideas which will build the economy, increase opportunities for Oklahomans, and create a better state for our children, but I hope you will join me in elevating “The Oklahoma Standard” by voting based on those issues that truly matter.
Will it be service, honor and kindness, or will voters instead gravitate towards propaganda that divides communities and instigates fear?
For Oklahoma’s children, the issues that matter are the childcare crisis, children’s health insurance, hunger in general, and whether candidates support policies which reduce childhood trauma. I certainly hope we see candidates change their focus to issues which truly elevate The Oklahoma Standard.
About OICA: The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities, or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. Our mission statement: “Creating awareness, taking action and supporting policy to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”
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