Oklahoma state’s only black agricultural education teacher was given a white robe and white hood (yes, that kind) while at a retirement presentation for another teacher at an Oklahoma CareerTech Summer Conference in Oklahoma City.
An anonymous email sent to state lawmakers had said the state’s only black agriculture education teacher was called to the stage during a retirement presentation for another teacher at a recent Oklahoma CareerTech Summer Conference at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. The email states that the retiring teacher placed a white hood and robe — such as a Ku Klux Klan member might wear — on the black teacher and gave him a Confederate flag.
The program was attended by hundreds of people, according to the mail. The email writer went on to say that after the program attendees went to district meetings where they were told not to speak of what had occurred and that all cellphone video would be erased before they left the room.
An investigation has confirmed that a white robe and hood were given to the black teacher but were unable to confirm whether or not a Confederate Flag was also a part of that racist package.
The investigation is also looking into the allegation that those in attendance were told to delete video and photographs of the incident, she said.
“The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education became aware of some deplorable actions and comments made last week at one of our breakout sessions during the summer conference in Oklahoma City,” said Paula Bowles, a spokeswoman for the agency. “As soon as the department was made aware of the situation, an internal investigation was launched.”
The man who performed this insanely racist thing is reportedly a retired member of the department. The Black Caucus released this statement about the events.
In the past 24 hours, we’ve gained additional facts and have immediately begun dialogue with the State Director of CareerTech. We have been informed that an internal investigation is almost complete. Ultimately, our concern is to have more inclusion of African Americans in senior management levels of CareerTech to reduce the likelihood of these incidents in the future. We applaud Dr. Marcie Mack for being open to take this necessary action immediately. We recommend diversity training at all levels and the continuance of programs that bring more African Americans into agriculture through both public and private partnerships.
We believe public words and actions have consequences. This is an extremely sensitive time in our nation as it related to race and sensitivity to differences. Therefore, our focus is on specific consequences for the individual that believed it was okay to ‘joke’ with a black person in such bad taste and publicly utilizing items associated with the KKK. We recommend that the individual whom we have been told initiated this action be removed from all boards related to public entities of any kind. Board positions are leadership positions and this type of leadership should not be tolerated in the state of Oklahoma.