Three 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. Kids in the other classes were given pictures of such notables as Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and President Obama.
Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles is more than 90 percent Latino. The teachers are accused of mocking Black History Month and were placed on administrative leave.
The NAACP has called for all three teachers to be fired.
For the full story, click here.
Blouise,
The comment about the child belongs on another thread. Casey Jones, you doing fine here? How is Dr. Freud?
Elaine M.,
I guess this one is not to be put in the notable female accomplishments either.
Take the case of “out-of-control” Capt. Holly Graf, a foul-mouthed “screamer” who makes Captain Bligh of the HMS Bounty seem calm and kind in comparison.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?letter_id=4635691081
The Rise and Fall of a Female Captain Bligh
A Navy admiral stripped Graf of her command of the Japan-based guided missile cruiser U.S.S. Cowpens in January. The just-released IG report concludes that Graf “repeatedly verbally abused her crew and committed assault” and accuses her of using her position as commander of the Cowpens “for personal gain.” But old Navy hands tell TIME that those charges, substantiated in the IG report, came about because of the poisonous atmosphere she created aboard her ship.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1969602,00.html
Elaine M.,
I guess this one is not to be put in the notable female accomplishments either.
Take the case of “out-of-control” Capt. Holly Graf, a foul-mouthed “screamer” who makes Captain Bligh of the HMS Bounty seem calm and kind in comparison.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?letter_id=4635691081
The Rise and Fall of a Female Captain Bligh
A Navy admiral stripped Graf of her command of the Japan-based guided missile cruiser U.S.S. Cowpens in January. The just-released IG report concludes that Graf “repeatedly verbally abused her crew and committed assault” and accuses her of using her position as commander of the Cowpens “for personal gain.” But old Navy hands tell TIME that those charges, substantiated in the IG report, came about because of the poisonous atmosphere she created aboard her ship.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1969602,00.html#ixzz0hEKPBiAP
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1969602,00.html
I think what most disgusts me about this situation is using children … if one is an elementary school teacher who wishes to mock blacks during Black History Month then carry the picture of OJ yourself and deal with the consequences as they present themselves. Don’t hide behind a child.
Mike S.,
I saw it for a week here in Texas and guess I agree with you.
AY,
Back home, but curiously still freezing my ass off. I moved down here for the warmth, but El Nino in the Pacific has produced some strange weather patterns across the country. up in NY I saw snow for the first time in years and discovered I don’t miss it.
Morning Mike S.,
Are you still with the family. I spoke with Buddha he is still in the relocation modem.
AY,
You better watch your speed because trouble is ahead and behind.
Since this is Women’s History Month, I’ll add more names of Black women of accomplishment: Phillis Wheatley, Marian Anderson, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Sojourner Truth, Wangari Maathai, Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, Fannie Lou Hamer, Mary McLeod Bethune…
What about that white kid from South Africa that got in trouble for putting down he was African and not white? Trouble Ahead….
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0HM0RtRv-E&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
Byron,
You bring up a good point. Who are the other notable Black people that were represented by the students, and did these teachers only provide the three that they are being called out for?
I’m avoiding the term “African-American” because Black History Month is not limited to those of African descent. (Although, with scientists claiming that we are all descendents of a woman in Africa, if we don’t limit it to those who are black, we may end up with Pee-Wee Herman’s face in the parade.) 🙂
Elaine M,
Leave it to a teacher to correct me, yet again. LOL. Wink…
Bryon,
I would say would be a fitting public flogging, so long as the person on the other side of the coin could come up with 100 names of what whites have accomplished or Asian, Greeks, Jews or how about 100 famous Indian tribal leaders?
It’s hard to escape the conclusion that the three pictures were indeed added as a sneering slap at Black History Month. While Simpson was an excelling football player and Rodman one of the greatest defensive basketball players of all time, their reputations have suffered obviously. RuPaul is no doubt a good person but is known primarily as a female impersonator and as such although well-known is hardly an example of accomplished African Americans. The truth is that anti-black racism is alive in America, though perhaps diminished in a social sense. Years of government policy have continued this as have years of subtle racist propaganda. We may have elected a Black President, but there are a good percentage of our populace who still hold the belief of Black inferiority. Our media and some of our politicians are purveyors of this bigoted nonsense.
Why not Gail Sayers, Michael Jordan and Louis Armstrong? Or Guion Bluford, George Washington Carver, WEB Du Boise? How about Dr. Ben Carson, Crispus Attucks and Ronald McNair? The list is endless. Americans of African ancestry have reached high levels of proficiency and professionalism in every area of endeavor.
those teachers should be made to stand before the community and recite 100 names each of African Americans that reached a level of achievement and competency far beyond theirs. Maybe that will sink into their thick skulls.
AY–
Don’t forget about great Black women athletes like Wilma Rudolph and Althea Gibson.
So, let’s see, if they had given the children a placard of a famous black hockey players? There may be 2, but I can only recall Willie O’Ree from Montreal.
I do recall what Chris Rock said about Hockey. “Once they make a heated hockey rink, we’re takin’ that shit, too”
Or what MLK had to say about Hockey:
“I have a dream that one day more than two Black people will play the sport of hockey. But I won’t be one of them. Too cold for me.”
~ Martin Luther King on hockey
Or what about when Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson played for that Negro Baseball league and were beat consistently by the Colored Baseball league aka the Cubans’?
Or when Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron broke the color bearer and when into play in the White League?
I think Simpson is a fine Athlete. Rodman, I could care less. RuPaul come on every race has at least one.
Get over it sultry people.
Duh:
A parent seems to have answered that question.
“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.”
On the right side of the page containing “the full story”, the headline reads “Kids forced to honor RuPaul, O.J. for Black History Month”.
I think the intent of the teachers was to mock black history month. I can definately attribute that intent to O.J. and maybe Rodman, but what has RuPaul done that is an embarrassment to the black community?
A repeat:
“There is one thing about this blog site,it never ceases to amaze with some of the post”