OKLAHOMA CITY — N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Oklahoma, issued a rare and forthright three-page statement this week. She addressed speculation, coded comments, and whisper campaigns surrounding her racial identity. In a race marked by historic stakes, Thomas signals that transparency and representation sit at the core of her campaign.
“I am Black, White, and Native American,” she wrote. “I say it out loud so no one feels the need to speculate, whisper, or guess incorrectly. That truth is not divisive, it is representational.”
Her candid letter, dated December 8, 2025, serves as both a personal declaration and a political indictment. She calls out Oklahoma’s long exclusion of Black, Native, and multiracial communities from federal representation. Since statehood in 1907, every U.S. Senator from Oklahoma has been white. That reality persists despite the state’s sizable Native population, its growing Black communities, and an increasingly multiracial electorate.
Thomas notes that about 10% of Oklahoma residents are Native American and 7–8% are Black. She also highlights that more residents identify as multiracial each year. Yet, she writes, “Little Black girls in Oklahoma have never seen a U.S. Senator who looks like them. Little Native girls have never seen a U.S. Senator who looks like them.”
“That’s not unity,” she adds. “That’s erasure.”
Her move echoes Barack Obama’s approach during the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama delivered his landmark “A More Perfect Union” address after rising racial attacks and rumors. Thomas now uses a similar strategy to define herself before opponents attempt to distort her identity. She grounds her message in clarity, history, and purpose.
A pointed critique of Oklahoma’s political silence
N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas also challenges the broader landscape of state and federal policy. She argues that Oklahoma politicians often focus on immigration but rarely pursue federal action that centers Black and Indigenous communities.
“The gaps are real. The disparities are measurable. And the silence around it has been loud. More loud than complete silence,” she wrote.
Her statement argues that the scrutiny she faces extends far beyond her identity. She says it reflects long-standing limits on who can lead in Oklahoma. She also suggests that political actors have shaped which stories voters are allowed to consider palatable.
Grounding N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas’s candidacy in lived experience
Jasmine Thomas emphasizes that representation is not symbolic for her. She roots it in years of frontline work. Before entering politics, she served as a community health nurse. She worked with Medicaid families, domestic violence survivors, disabled children, and parents navigating special education barriers.
“I didn’t just talk about Black and Brown communities; I’ve already worked directly in them,” she said. She outlines her service in rural Black communities and low-income neighborhoods.
“Representation changes outcomes,” she argued. “Because when you come from these communities, you don’t need a briefing to understand what’s broken; you’ve lived it.”
Rejecting the notion that naming identity is ‘divisive’
Much of Thomas’s statement responds to a question she hears often. People ask why she keeps naming herself as Black, White, and Native. She rejects the suggestion that her identity should remain quiet or simple, arguing that naming her full identity creates space for communities long denied representation, and says visibility creates possibility for children who need to see leaders who reflect them.
Thomas makes clear that she refuses to shrink herself to ease others’ discomfort. She frames her identity as a matter of dignity, not division. “I will never fall victim to this,” she added, rejecting any attempt to mute her identity for political convenience.
She also grounds her identity in Oklahoma’s layered history. Black towns flourished here long before Tulsa was bombed in 1921. Tribal nations thrived long before Oklahoma gained statehood. Multiracial families lived here long before they gained public recognition. Thomas argues that her candidacy continues a story Oklahoma has struggled to acknowledge.
A preemptive strike in a consequential Senate race
Her statement reads as a strategic move from a candidate who understands the political climate. National rhetoric around identity grows more intense each week. Oklahoma also continues to grapple with its complex racial history. Thomas appears determined to assert her narrative before critics attempt to rewrite it.
“This is not about division. This is about finally being seen,” N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas wrote. “So me standing here, naming who I am, and running for federal office isn’t ‘radical’ — it’s Oklahoma finally telling the full truth about itself.”
She closes her letter with a clear directive: “Now let’s move on.”