Some Los Angeles teachers have been suspended for celebrating Black History Month by honoring O.J. Simpson, RuPaul, and Dennis Rodman.
Local civil rights leaders want the teachers fired for making a mockery out of Black History Month.
The teachers are white.
Video, from ABC 7.
LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles elementary school teachers accused of giving children portraits of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul to carry in a Black History Month parade have been removed from their classrooms, a school district spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Children from other classes at the school displayed photos of more appropriate black role models, such as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Obama, Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman Gayle Pollard-Terry said.
The incident occurred Friday at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles, where the student body is more than 90 percent Latino.
District Superintendent Ramon Cortines placed the teachers - all white men who teach first, second and fourth grades - on administrative leave on Tuesday while an investigation is conducted, Pollard-Terry said.
"The superintendent will not let anyone make a mockery out of Black History Month," she said.
The issue was brought to district officials' attention by the Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People after the organization received a complaint early Monday, chapter President Leon Jenkins said.
Jenkins said he felt the teachers acted in concert to mock black heroes and children's innocence.
"These are not the people we want our young people to emulate or believe these people represent the best of the African-American community," Jenkins said. "It's hard for the NAACP to believe this was a mistake."
...Some parents at the school on Wednesday said the issue was overblown.
Sharon Tinson, who has two daughters at the school and attended Friday's celebration, said she had been surprised to see Simpson displayed in the parade. But she noted that Simpson, like Rodman, was a great athlete before falling from grace. RuPaul simply has an alternative lifestyle, she added.
She noted the event also included a tribute to pop singer Michael Jackson, who has also had a checkered career.
"I kind of laughed at it," Tinson said. "I wasn't offended."
Gabriel Blackson, whose son attends the school, said he also took a larger view of the ruckus.
"These guys were heroes before. People make mistakes," he said. "I think they show kids they can be somebody, to push them to be somebody."
It is interesting that Michael Jackson is given a pass. He's still considered a hero in spite of his heavily publicized "problems" with young boys.
What did Dennis Rodman or RuPaul do to make them such objectionable characters to the NAACP?
Rodman and RuPaul must be offended that they've been labeled as disgraced figures and a discredit to their race.
And there is no question that at one time O.J. Simpson was considered a noteworthy, honorable African American.
However, if the teachers really were trying to make a statement and they hold racist views, that's a serious matter. If they're teaching their students that blacks are bad or Black History Month is a joke, if they're teaching hate, calls for them to be fired are legitimate.
It's quite a leap to arrive at the conclusion that the teachers conspired to mock blacks. The teachers' records need to be examined. They shouldn't lose their jobs on this parade issue alone, at least not with an opportunity to explain their side of the story and what they were trying to achieve by including Simpson, RuPaul, and Rodman as African Americans to be celebrated.
It's not as black and white as the NAACP is making it out to be.
1 comment:
Here's another view. Perhaps this was the point these teachers were trying to make...
I initially was also offended at the suggestions of these three people being labeled as role models. But look deeper... Isn't this what the media did with these three? Isn't this what the media has become all about? Not about news, but about creating stories- the more bizarre, the more exposure the story gets. Our media has made all three of them heroes by their exposure. I have no problem with Ru Paul being a bizarre gay African-American man, but much of the exposure he got was BECAUSE he was an "ITEM". Obviously, the same was true of Rodman, an amazing rebounder, but a difficult teammate and and emotionally unstable person. Should this get him page one headlines? Nothing needs to be said about OJ. His case really speaks for itself. If he had instead given away all his money and devoted himself to humanity instead of becoming involved in the scandals he did, he might have gotten a notice at the end of the newscast, or a human interest article in the paper.. BUT NOT PAGE ONE! Our media made these men heroes. That is what we do. Maybe we need to take a deeper look.
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