Oklahoma

Oklahoma School Boss Outdoes Himself With Tulsa Race Massacre Comment

Published

1 year ago

July 8, 2023

The self-proclaimed enemy of “the radical left” and all things woke who heads Oklahoma’s public schools has proven his ignorance anew by declaring that race was not a factor in the Tulsa Race Massacre.

As Oklahoma schools have been required by law to teach since 2002, the massacre was a 1921 paroxysm of racist violence in which white mobs killed as many as 300 Black residents and burned some 1,600 homes and businesses in what was known as Black Wall Street.

Those facts seem to have been lost on Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters.

“Let’s not tie it to the skin color and say the skin color determined that,” Walters told a public forum hosted by the Cleveland County Republicans in the Oklahoma Room at the main library in Norman this week.

Oklahoma Governor’s Office

Walters’ preposterous statement came during a Q & A session in which he was asked how teaching about the massacre did not violate a prohibition he instituted against teaching what he defines as critical race theory.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t judge the actions of individuals,” he continued. “Oh, you can, absolutely. Historically you should. This was right, this was wrong. They did this for this reason.”

But in his willfully warped view, the reason cannot include race.

“That is critical race theory,” he said. “I reject that.”

Walters’ views are the more disturbing when you consider that he was teaching AP History at the high school in his hometown of McAlester three years ago. His YouTube channel includes an April 2020 virtual class that seemingly would violate his ban. Walters today would call what he taught then indoctrination.

At the time, Walters was preparing his students for the Advanced Placement U.S. History exam. The video shows him sharing the screen with a black and white photo of armed soldiers escorting the first nine Black students into Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

“This is the Civil Rights Movement,” Walters said. “You’re gonna see this reach its apex here in Little Rock.”

He then stepped back three years to the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision.

“The Supreme Court said, when you segregate, that is unconstitutional,” he said. “Segregation is illegal. You cannot segregate someone based on their race.”

He talked about the case itself.

“By the way, there’s this amazing moment where an attorney comes in and calls onto the stand the psychologist,” Walters says, “And the psychologist talks about, ‘I can show you how much damage is done to children based on segregation in schools.’”

Walters did not identify the psychologist, but it is Dr. Kenneth Clark, whose wife, Dr. Mamie Clark, devised what became known as “The Dolls Test.” Walters proceeded to offer a not-quite-accurate description of the famous study in which 253 Black children aged 3 to 7 were asked if they preferred white dolls with light hair or Black dolls with dark hair. The great majority of the children chose the white dolls and expressed negative feelings about the Black ones. The Clarks attributed the results to racist practices and attitudes.

“And so these psychologists went on and talked about how detrimental that was,” Walter said. “So it’s a fascinating case.”

A case that was based on skin color.

The Walters of 2020 clearly understood that even if he had some of the details wrong. (Kenneth Clark did testify in numerous other segregation cases, but he never took the stand in front of the Supreme Court in this one. He did submit a written statement to the high court that detailed test.)

At another point in the class, Walters changed the screen background to a photo of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. addressing a huge crowd at the Washington Monument in 1963.

“This is his famous D.C. speech—‘I have a dream.’ Unbelievable speech,” Walters told his pupils. “It is hard to overstate his impact.”

One question that arises from this 50-minute class three years ago is how can Walters now declare that race is not a factor that demands critical study in American society? Could it be that he simply found it politically expedient in a red state going even redder?

Five months after the AP class, Gov. Kevin Stitt appointed Walters the Oklahoma secretary of education. He left that position to briefly run a non-profit that misallocated millions in funding from a 2021 federal program intended to help low-income Oklahoma families homeschool during the pandemic. Much of the money went instead toward big screen TVs to washing machines.

Walters then successfully ran for the elective position of superintendent of public instruction. He won by spouting nonsense about CRT and indoctrination and the fake story that kitty litter boxes were installed in schools for kids who identify as cats.

After he was elected, Walters began speaking like someone who aspired to even higher office. A once seemingly reasonable history teacher issued an official statement that posited the arrest of former President Trump for withholding classified documents was “the most profound unwinding of the U.S. Constitution that our country has ever experienced since the Civil War.”

Last week, Walters was in Philadelphia to address a gathering of the far-right Moms for Liberty, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has branded an extremist group. He spoke much the same nuttiness there as he did at the library in Norman.

Outside the library were several dozen protesters. Somebody inside played a laugh track with a cellphone as Walters spoke.

Those in attendance included Samuel Perry, a prominent sociology professor at the University of Oklahoma. He tweeted afterwards about hearing Walters say that the Tulsa Race Massacre was not about the color of anyone’s skin.

“My wife (a teacher) and I attended this event tonight,” Perry reported. “This was just the tip of the iceberg of idiocy Walters spewed. Driving home we felt so angry and embarrassed we live in a state where people elected this ignorant and incompetent clown.”

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma porn star Jesse Jane cause of death revealed in autopsy report

Published

3 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

Oklahoma porn star Jesse Jane cause of death revealed in autopsy report

Porn star Jesse Jane overdosed on cocaine and fentanyl in January at her boyfriend’s home in Moore, according to an autopsy report made public Sunday.

Her death was ruled an accident.

Jane is best known for starring in the 2008 high-budget adult film, “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge.” She also is known for roles in the 2004 movie “Starsky & Hutch” and the HBO series “Entourage.”

She was 43.

Moore police found the bodies of Jane and her boyfriend, Brett Hasenmueller, 33, on Jan. 24 during a welfare check. Police at the time said they were investigating the deaths as drug overdoses.

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner for Oklahoma released only the first page of the report on Jane’s death, in keeping with state law. The full report will be released July 17. The report being made public on a Sunday was unusual.

The report describes Jane’s body as decomposed.

Last year, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control called fentanyl “the biggest threat topublic health and safety in the state.”

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: July 7

Published

10 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

Join News 9 Sports Reporter Chris Williams and News On 6 Sports Director John Holcomb for this week’s edition of Oklahoma Ford Sports

Sunday, July 7th 2024, 8:54 pm

By:

News On 6,

News 9

OKLAHOMA CITY –

This week on the Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz, Chris Williams and John Holcomb begin the show with their opening takes.

OKC Thunder Offseason Update

OSU Football Offseason Update

OU Football Offseason Update

Viewer Question

Play The Percentages

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Oklahoma

CU Buffs opponent preview: Experienced Oklahoma State takes aim at Big 12 title

Published

17 hours ago

July 7, 2024

Press Room

CU Buffs opponent preview: Experienced Oklahoma State takes aim at Big 12 title

At a time in college sports where player movement is more prevalent than ever, Oklahoma State’s football team might be an anomaly.

Head coach Mike Gundy comes into his 20th season with the Cowboys and they are loaded with experience and returning starters.

With 10 starters back on offense and 10 on defense, Oklahoma State could be the best team in the Big 12 and one of the top teams in the country.

This summer, BuffZone is previewing each of Colorado’s opponents for the 2024 season and in this final installment we look at Oklahoma State, which will visit Boulder for the season finale on Nov. 29.

Gundy, a former OSU quarterback, went 4-7 in his first season leading the Cowboys (2005), but has taken them to 18 consecutive bowl games since then. It’s the sixth-longest active bowl streak, with only Georgia, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Alabama and Clemson enjoying longer streaks.

This season, the Cowboys return almost everybody from a team that went 10-4 last year and played in the Big 12 title game.

“It was really fun this spring to move quickly through terminology from a football standpoint,” Gundy said recently in an interview with ESPN. “Last year we had 28 new players.”

One of those new players last year was quarterback Alan Bowman, who transferred in from Michigan. Bowman wound up as the starter, but not until after the Cowboys used three different quarterbacks early.

The Cowboys averaged just 29.6 points per game last year, the first time they finished under 30 since 2014. Gundy feels that will improve with Bowman back and firmly entrenched as the starter.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy reacts with fans when leaving the field after an NCAA college football game against BYU Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in Stillwater, Okla. (AP Photo/Mitch Alcala)

“We put a lot on our quarterbacks,” he said. “We ask them to put us in the best situation. We’ll have more availability with that this fall than we did last year because we were rotating guys through. Bowman has come though and had a terrific spring for us. He now understands our system. I think he’s very comfortable in communication and understanding where we want to attack the defense.”

It certainly helps that Bowman can hand off to last year’s Big 12 offensive player of the year, running back Ollie Gordon II, and has the entire offensive line back.

The receiver room is stacked, too, with Brennan Presley (101 catches last year) leading the way. The Cowboys should also get a boost from De’Zhaun Stribling. A transfer from Washington State last year, he missed the last 11 games with an injury. In two seasons at WSU, he caught 95 passes for 1,073 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Defensively last year the Cowboys were 10th in the Big 12 in points allowed (28.6) and last in yards allowed (441.8). Ten players with starting experience are back, though, including a pair of linebackers – Nick Martin and Collins Oliver – who are among the best in the Big 12.

OSU will lean on its defensive line, led by nose tackle Justin Kirkland, to take some steps forward in order for the defense to improve as a whole.

Under Gundy, the Cowboys have been a virtual lock to post a winning season and get to a bowl. But, with a boatload of experience on both sides of the ball, the Cowboys are gunning for much more than just getting to the postseason. A Big 12 title and spot in the expanded college football playoff are realistic goals.

“We all know that we have the potential to be really good, so we just got to put the work in, come together as one and we’re going to be really good,” Bowman said during spring practices.

“Obviously we’re coming back to do one thing and that’s to win a Big 12 championship and to make the College Football Playoff. I think that’s the goal that everybody has, to take what we learned last year and use everything that we’ve done to be able to launch us forward into (this season).”

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Head coach: Mike Gundy, 20th season (166-79)

2023 season: 10-4, 7-2 Big 12; Beat Texas A&M in Texas Bowl

Series with CU: Buffs lead 26-20-1

The Game

Who: Oklahoma State at Colorado Buffaloes

When: Friday, Nov. 29, 10 a.m. MT (ABC)

Where: Folsom Field in Boulder

Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman looks to pass the ball against Texas A&M during the first half of the Texas Bowl NCAA college football game Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

5 Guys to Watch

QB Alan Bowman: A transfer from Michigan a year ago, he started 13 games and completed 60.7% of his passes for 3,460 yards, 15 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He also ran for two touchdowns. In his collegiate career, he has thrown for 8,789 yards and 49 touchdowns.

RB Ollie Gordon II: The offensive player of the year in the Big 12 in 2023, he led the country with 1,732 rushing yards and was second in rushing touchdowns (21). He was also a big part of the passing game, finishing third on the team with 39 receptions for 330 yards.

LB Nick Martin: A first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2023, he ranked sixth nationally with 140 tackles, while also record 16 tackles for loss, six sacks and two interceptions.

LB Collin Oliver: Named by the media as a preseason choice for the All-Big 12 team. Last year, he was second-team all-conference after posting 73 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, six sacks, five pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.

WR Brennan Presley: The 5-foot-8, 160-pound senior is the go-to target for Bowman. Last year, he caught 101 passes (tied for third nationally) for 991 yards and six touchdowns, while also handling punt and kick return duties. In his career, he has 225 catches for 2,548 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Good to know

• CU and OSU were previously conference rivals from 1960-2010. The two teams met every year from 1960-1997. CU’s last win in the series came in 2005. OSU has won the last three meetings, matching its longest win streak in the series.

• Oklahoma State made its first-ever Big 12 title game appearance in 2021 (losing to Baylor) and made a return trip last year (losing to Texas). OSU is the only team to reach the title game twice in the last three years.

• Quarterback Alan Bowman will be in his seventh season of college football, as he was granted a medical hardship waiver for a season-ending injury three games into the 2019 season. He played three seasons at Texas Tech (2018-20) and was a seven-game starter as a true freshman. He made 16 starts with the Red Raiders before playing two seasons (2021-22) at Michigan, where he threw just 11 passes.

• In 2023, Oklahoma State reached the 10-win mark for the eighth time in the last 14 seasons (2010-23). From 1901-2009, OSU had just three 10-win seasons.

• Last year, seven different offensive linemen combined for 70 starts, with each of them getting at least three starts. All seven are back for the Cowboys, including preseason first-team All-Big 12 choices Dalton Cooper (tackle) and Joe Michalski (center).

• While the Cowboys are loaded with returning starters, they will have a new kicker. Alex Hale, was second-team All-Big 12 last year, has graduated. Junior Logan Ward is taking over those duties. He has been the kickoff specialist the last two years, handled punting duties in 2022 and was 7-for-7 on extra points last year.

• Punter Hudson Kaak is back. He averaged 39.7 yards per kick last year, landing 20 of his 38 punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

Portal movement

OSU lost 11 players to the transfer portal, only one of which who started last year: receiver Jaden Bray, who caught 30 passes for 382 yards and is now at West Virginia. The other key loss was cornerback DJ McKinney (38 tackles, five pass breakups), now at CU. Running back Jaden Nixon and receiver Blaine Green (Stephen F. Austin) were also contributors last year. The Cowboys have added eight scholarship players through the portal, mainly to fill out some depth. Running back Trent Howland rushed for 354 yards at Indiana last year, while AJ Green ran for 951 yards in three seasons at Arkansas. At receiver Gavin Freeman (Oklahoma) and Da’Wain Lofton (Virginia Tech) should be in the rotation. Defensive end Obi Ezeigbo (Gannon University) could be a solid addition up front.

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