THE TERM "OKIE"

 The term "Okie" was used to denote the residents of Oklahoma. In California, starting from the 1930s, the term "Okie" was directed toward any migrant who left the South Midwest and sometimes even the South East. Most Oklahoma residents worked on farms and came to California looking for a job in the agricultural and manufacturing industries. Ben Reddick, a journalist during the time of the great depression noted how he saw that OK was the abbreviation for Oklahoma thus being one of the first to call the migrant  Oklahoma residents, the "Okies", as seen on their license plates. "Okie" became a term of discrimination towards the migrants who came from Oklahoma. It was a harsh word towards the migrants of Oklahoma and is the word that started off  the brutal discrimination towards them. "Okie" became the main word for the poverty stricken migrants from Oklahoma. 

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