A retired teacher in Oklahoma is under fire after he was accused of presenting a black teacher with a Confederate flag and KKK robe as an ill-conceived joke.
Larry Long, who is white, pulled off the thoughtless gag in front of a crowd of about 500 people during a session at last week’s Oklahoma CareerTech Summer Conference in Oklahoma City, according to the Stillwater News Press.
The bizarre incident came to light after an anonymous witness emailed lawmakers, alleging the state’s only black agriculture teacher had been presented with the hood and flag while attending the Cox Convention Center conference, according to Tulsa World.
Long — who retired from Elk City High School this year, according to The Oklahoman — allegedly placed the white hood and robe on the black teacher and gave him a “stars and bars” flag to go with it.
The disturbing email sparked an internal investigation in the Department of Career and Technology Education, the state agency overseeing CareerTech.
“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 spokeswoman Paula Bowles.
“As soon as the department was made aware of the situation, an internal investigation was launched.”
The findings confirmed the teacher was given a robe and hood, but did not yet verify the detail about the Confederate flag, CareerTech Director Marcie Mack told reporters Wednesday at a press conference.
