Civil rights leader Clara Luper died
June 10th, 2011 - 1:15 am ICT by Aishwarya BhattOklahoma City, June 9 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Civil rights activist Clara Luper has died at the age of 88. The daughter of Clara revealed the death of her mother and said she had been battling ill health for quite a while now.
Clara is famous for leading the 1958 sit-ins at Katz Drug Store lunch counters in. The action which lasted for several days eventually led to the store eventually agreeing to integrate lunch counters at 38 of its stores in 4 states including Oklahoma.
Luper in a previous interview with the Associated Press said that she has been fighting against racial discrimination and for gender equality all her life. Luper was a school teacher in her advanced years and she finally retired from public service in 1991.
In the interview that she had with AP, Clara said that, “My biggest job now is making white people understand that black history is white history. We cannot separate the two.”
She is seen as a hero in Oklahoma with a street named after her. Governor Mary Fallin paid tribute to Luper saying that, “Clara Luper was an Oklahoma hero, a tremendous civil rights activist and a devoted mother.”
She was survived by three children – two daughters and a son.
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Tags: associated press, black history, civil rights activist, civil rights leader, clara luper, drug store, gender equality, governor mary fallin, hero, ill health, ins, job, katz, lunch counters, mary fallin, oklahoma city, racial discrimination, school teacher, tribute, two daughters