Okie vs. Oklahoman

[SoonerInKCMO]

I've always considered myself an Oklahoman. I see lots of folks on here refer to themselves and their brethren as Okies.

My most lasting impression of the term Okie was created from reading 'The Grapes of Wrath' where it was used as a term of contempt and derision. Old school Californians still use the term in that manner. Peeps I've met while living and/or working in other parts of the country use the term derisively as well (on those rare occasions when they're even thinking of Oklahoma at all).

Why do you tardbillies insist on calling yourselves Okies when, to the opinion of nearly any outsider, you're just painting yourself as poor, ignorant white trash? :pop:

[royalfan5]

I've never considered myself an Okie or Oklahoman.

[SoonerInKCMO]

Well, either of those is better than 'Bugeater' though. ;)

[1stTimeCaller]

Because I don't care what ignorant people think of me and the state that I'm from.

[stoopified]

Personally the choice is neither.This IS the SOONER STATE and I AM a SOONER,born and bred.Okie to me are those OKLAHOMANS who choose to leave the state .Just IMHO.If my only choices are Oklahoman or Okie,Oklahoman wins out.

[SicEmBaylor]

I've never cared when people call me an Okie. I think I've referred to myself as such.

[Ike]

when the Okies left for california, the average IQ of both states went up.

[def_lazer_fc]

funny story about outsider opinions of oklahoma.

me and a few friends just went to nyc a couple weeks ago. we were looking for some little dive bars to go to since most bars were charging like 5 bucks a beer. so we stumbled upon this place called Billy Mark West's on the lower west side i believe. good juke box, cheap beer, thats about all that was going for this place. besides a couple playing pool, we were the only ones there. now, i could tell you the story about how one of my friends (the gay one of course) tries to order a mojito in this place and got made fun of for the remainder of our stay by the bartender, but thats a different story.
anyway, i started talking to the bartender about visiting new york, and the topic turned to oklahoma. the owner of the bar, some guy that looked and sounded just like tony soprano, is sitting at the end of the bar. he hears oklahoma and this is what pops out of his mouth, "Oklahoma? oh yeah, like Barry Switzer, the Boz, and that one guy. Stutton or something."
had me rolling. did i say this is my favorite bar of all time?

[OzarkSooner]

This little tidbit from Wikipedia says it better than I ever could:


Historically, the term Okie (rather than "Oklahoman"), has had pejorative connotations. Residents of California and some politically motivated writers have used the term to describe white and mixed-race (or Cherokee and American Indians), poor or low-income migrant farm workers and their families forced to flee their farms during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Californians have also used the term to describe any poor person migrating to their state, not just those from Oklahoma or from the South-central states.
Over the decades, the pejorative nature of the term has begun to change; many from Oklahoma now consider the use of the term to be either neutral (a shortened term for "Oklahoma") or even a matter of pride. Whether the term is pejorative or not today depends upon the intent of the speaker and the circumstances of the term's use.

AND

Since the 1990s, the children and grandchildren of Okies in California changed the very meaning of Okie to a self-title of pride in obtaining success, as well to challenge what they felt was "snobbery" or "the last group to make fun of" in the state's urban area cultures.
[edit]Modern usage

In the later half of the twentieth century, there became increasing evidence that the pejorative meaning of the term "Okie" was changing; former and present "Okies" began to apply the label as a badge of honor and symbol of the Okie survivor attitude.

It has been said that some Oklahomans who stayed and lived through the Dust Bowl see the Okie migrants as being quitters who fled Oklahoma; but there is hardly a native Oklahoman who does not have some family member who made the trip. Most Oklahoma natives are as extraordinarily proud of their Okies who made good in California as are the Okies themselves—proud even of the Arkies, West Texans, and others who got painted with the same brush.
Oklahomans usually use Okie without prejudice but it is often used jocularly too, similar to Hoosier by Hoosiers or redneck by rednecks, who also do not consider terms for themselves particularly denigrating.

I have never minded being called an Okie. I am not currently able to reside in Oklahoma and I often regret that fact, however...I would be cautious about characterizing people who chose to leave Oklahoma as somehow inferior or not as dedicated. For many who left it was either leave or learn to eat dust...which there was plenty of at the time.

Oh yes, forgot to say I also don't mind being called an Oklahoman...even though part of that word sounds a bit pejorative in itself. ;) ;) NTTAWWT

I'm with Merle Haggard, I'm PROUD to be an Okie. ;)

[tbl]

I refer to myself as an Okie...

[OUHOMER]

I dont mind be called an OKIE, as a matter of fact depending on who you are, your tone of voice, you can call me anthing you want and we can laugh or fight.

[TUSooner]

I refer to myself as an Okie or a Sooner all the time. I've seldom been called an Okie by someone else, except by another one. And nobody has ever called me an Okie in an insulting way. And if they did, I'd probably consider it an honor to be insulted like that.

[proud gonzo]

well, i'm not technically an oklahoman or an okie, but i'd much rather be called either of those than Kansan.

[AlbqSooner]

My Grandmother, who made the land run as an infant, was traveling by train in the early '50s when a lady she was chatting with referred to her as a Sooner. Grandma was aghast. THAT was a perjorative term in her mind. Not anything against the University, she considered herself a Boomer. Conotation vs Denotation.

[sanantoniosooner]

Political correctness applies to Okies also?

[Vaevictis]

We call ourselves Okies in my family all the time. Yeah, we know out in California that it's a bit of a pejorative.

But we don't live in California. :D

[proud gonzo]

i think it's kinda like how Texas A&M is probably proud to call themselves Aggies.... whereas if WE call somebody an Aggie it's usually derogatory and preceeded by "****in"

[olevetonahill]

To those who want to Dis the Folks that were forced OFF their Farms . then To try to feed their Families went to Cal to Survive I say **** you .:mad:
Im proud to be an Okie
Hell of it Is i was Born in AZ raised In Cal. But Have long standing roots in these here parts !

[jacru]

why do some african-americans call themselves nigg*rs?

[olevetonahill]

why do some african-americans call themselves nigg*rs?
Same Reason Dogs lick their Balls !
They can

[def_lazer_fc]

why do some african-americans call themselves nigg*rs?

wha?!!?

[Okla-homey]

why do some african-americans call themselves nigg*rs?

I think you hit the proverbial nail on the head.

I call myself an Okie with pride. However, I don't mind if non-Okies call me an Okie because...I don't suffer from an inferiority complex.

BTW, my maternal grandparents made the trek to southern California in the thirties. They came back home after things eased up though.

My grandpa always said, if it were'nt for the Okies, there wouldn't be no Americans in California.;)

[Chuck Bao]

I'm proud to be an Okie.

Olevetonahill already said it. And, this Okie agrees with him.

My grandfather kept the family farm and would work harder and longer and stay at it even if it was digging a hole in the ground for a dollar a day and being paid the next day another dollar to fill in that hole.

The land, the family farm, the sweat of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents. That's what I think about when I think Okie.

Go ahead and make jokes about Hokie. I wouldn't care.

I'm an Okie!

[crawfish]

I was born in Louisiana and live in Texas, but I'll always be an Okie in my heart.

[sooneron]

I used to take offense at it when I first moved to NY b/c of the whole Grapes of Wrath thing, but I've mellowed quite a bit since my twenties. Now, I pretty much embrace it. I do prefer Sooner, though. By and large, I believe Okies to be some of the most decent people in the US.

[sooneron]

funny story about outsider opinions of oklahoma.

me and a few friends just went to nyc a couple weeks ago. we were looking for some little dive bars to go to since most bars were charging like 5 bucks a beer. so we stumbled upon this place called Billy Mark West's on the lower west side i believe. good juke box, cheap beer, thats about all that was going for this place. besides a couple playing pool, we were the only ones there. now, i could tell you the story about how one of my friends (the gay one of course) tries to order a mojito in this place and got made fun of for the remainder of our stay by the bartender, but thats a different story.
anyway, i started talking to the bartender about visiting new york, and the topic turned to oklahoma. the owner of the bar, some guy that looked and sounded just like tony soprano, is sitting at the end of the bar. he hears oklahoma and this is what pops out of his mouth, "Oklahoma? oh yeah, like Barry Switzer, the Boz, and that one guy. Stutton or something."
had me rolling. did i say this is my favorite bar of all time?
Uh, you were already in dive bars if you were only paying 5 bucks for a beer.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Uh, you were already in dive bars if you were only paying 5 bucks for a beer.Heh. My favorite bar in NYC is one called Faces & Names.

I don't mind being called Okie, but I really can't recall if anyone has ever called me that. It's almost like most people don't even know about the dust bowl these days.