OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt defended diversity and countered claims of “reverse bigotry” in an opinion piece published Thursday in The New York Times.
In the essay headlined “I’m a Red‑State Mayor. Diversity Is Not Reverse Bigotry,” Holt highlights his administration’s efforts since 2018 to broaden representation in City Hall and to challenge rhetoric that frames equal opportunity as discrimination.
“Sometimes this rhetoric is cloaked in patriotism, but it is really just repackaged bigotry, misogyny and racism,” Holt wrote. “To cast equal opportunity as a threat rather than a goal is to move backward.”
Holt, a life-long Republican and member of the Osage Nation, noted that about 60 percent of Oklahoma City children are nonwhite and half are female, saying embracing inclusivity is essential to the city’s future.
He cited several initiatives his office has undertaken, including restoring the city’s Human Rights Commission, proclaiming Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Pride Month for the first time, and expanding volunteer participation on nearly 60 civic advisory boards—tripling representation for people of color and doubling seats held by women since 2018.
Holt also described symbolic changes at City Hall. Decades of mayoral portraits—34 in total, 33 of whom were white men—were removed and replaced with photographs of Oklahoma City children who better reflect the community’s diversity.
“They gaze down on us and remind us that the decisions we make in that room will affect them most of all,” Holt wrote. “And hopefully, all the kids of Oklahoma City, regardless of race or gender, will increasingly believe that they can grow up to sit at the head of that conference room table.”
He credited broad-based coalitions for his electoral success, including his 2022 re-election by a 40-point margin, and argued that inclusive governance aligns with the traditions of American democracy.
“Divisive rhetoric has come and gone throughout American history, but equality has always won out in the end,” he wrote. “And that’s what we owe those kids on my conference room wall.”
Holt became Oklahoma City’s 38th mayor in 2018, winning 78.5 percent of the vote — the highest for a non-incumbent since 1947. He was re-elected in 2022 by a landslide with more votes than any mayoral candidate since 1959. Holt is the city’s first Native American mayor and previously served as a Republican in the Oklahoma House and Senate.
Brett is the founder, and editor in chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He continues to contribute reporting and photography to the efforts of the publication as well as leadership in developing support.
