OKLAHOMA CITY – State Senator George Young, D-Oklahoma City, issued the following statement in response to the adoption of Senate Concurrent Resolution 7, which designated cotton as the state fiber.

“I want to go on the record that I had my name removed from the resolution to make cotton the state fiber. I personally don’t have anything against cotton, but having picked, chopped, pulled and worked in a cotton field with a cotton sack, I am not about to recognize a crop that has a symbolic connection to slavery.

“I am originally from Memphis, and that iconic city, the Mississippi River and cotton are too closely related to slavery, and the aftereffects of that institution, to have my vote to make it the state fiber. In my opinion, hemp would be a better choice.”

For more information, contact: Sen. George Young at 405-521-5531, or email [email protected].