Thursday, March 4, 2010

Black Heroes... Nelson Mandela, Harriet Tubman and O.J.!


At Wadsworth Elementary School in L.A., the kids have a Black History Month parade. In this parade, the kids carry pictures of Black heroes, like Oprah, Obama, Me and Harriet Tubman.

Well, 3 teachers (white men) thought it would be cute to give the kids pictures of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul to carry in a Black History Month parade.

Let's just say folks didn't find it funny at all.

A district spokeswoman said the teachers at Wadsworth Elementary School, where the majority of the students are Latino, could have made more appropriate choices, such as Oprah Winfrey. Civil rights activists said the choices made a mockery of black history and reinforced racial stereotypes.

"Their selection goes beyond ignorance. It speaks to arrogance and racism," said Rev. Eric Lee, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of greater Los Angeles.

The 3 teachers have been suspended until an investigation is complete. I hope they are not paid during the investigation. This was truly sloppy to do that to the kids.

However, I do think of Ru as Heroine.

source

3 comments:

behrmark said...

Maybe I'm missing the point here because I'm white. RuPaul...yes, he's a hero/herioine. OJ - before his legal troubles - was an outstanding and accomplished football start. And Rodman - although he liked to play genderfuck mind games - was himself an outstanding athlete. So what's the beef?
And of course YOU are the greatest hero of them all!

Greg said...

I was surprised about RuPaul. She's done so much positive work for the community that I can't believe she's not considered a leader.

KAOS said...

Bizarre - but then teachers can really be a bunch of fruitcakes and jerks.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.