The wrong history lesson

A drag queen, a professional bad boy and a disgraced football star serving time for a botched robbery. These were the high-profile African American figures that three white teachers at a South Los Angeles elementary school apparently chose as worthy of study for their young charges as part of Black History Month. The children solemnly marched in the school parade carrying pictures of the three men -- RuPaul (wearing one of his signature blond wigs), Dennis Rodman and O.J. Simpson -- while their schoolmates honored the likes of President Obama and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Correction: This editorial says the principal of Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School was off campus during the Black History Month parade in which children carried pictures of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul. She was on campus.

As usual when things go awry in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the fiasco was a conflation of silly, smaller mishaps and oversights. Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School was selecting subjects from an official work sheet of prominent African Americans that included Simpson because it dated back to 1985, long before the infamous murder trial. Teachers rightly figured that the list needed updating. But the informally compiled list of add-ons, which was not overseen by the principal, included Rodman and RuPaul along with the president of the United States. The principal was off campus the day of the parade.

None of this serves as an excuse for what looks like a remarkable dearth of common sense or sensitivity among the teachers involved, along with a disregard for parents and the larger community, and scorn for the curriculum they’re supposed to be imparting. Perhaps worst was the apparent willingness to use innocent children to carry out a mockery of Black History Month.

The message was that teaching children about the real struggles and successes of African Americans isn’t worth serious consideration.

Fortunately, the poor judgment did not extend to instructing them about Simpson’s murder trial or recent conviction on armed robbery and kidnapping charges, or former NBA star Rodman’s history of wild behavior. Mainly what the youngsters knew about the two men, when questioned afterward by district officials, was that they had been good athletes. And it’s not as though RuPaul isn’t worthy of regard, but the tender years of elementary school are not the time for introducing the modern complications of cross-dressing and gender identification.

These particular teachers, who have been suspended pending the results of an investigation, reportedly have a reputation as pranksters. On the laugh meter, we’d rank the stunt alongside the recent “Compton Cookout� at UC San Diego. If this is a sign of their sense of humor, we’d advise them not to give up their day jobs -- assuming they get them back -- for a future on the improv stage.