Black History Month

Their best player soars over the imagination, their young stars sprint past old stereotypes and, goodness, they were even athletic enough to kick out Baron Davis. If only the Clippers could stop tripping over their owner. When Blake Griffin roars, it is drowned out by Donald Sterling's heckling. When Eric Gordon shoots, it is overshadowed by Donald Sterling being sued. Nowhere is the tug between good and creepy more evident than in this newspaper, where, for every positive Clippers story, there seemingly appears an awkward Sterling advertisement, which brings us to the latest Donald T. Shame.

SAN DIEGO —UC San Diego officials have reached an agreement with the federal government to end an investigation into racial tensions on campus that began after white students held an event laced with racial stereotypes during Black History Month. In a settlement announced Friday with the federal departments of Justice and Education, UC San Diego promised to maintain an Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination to receive, investigate and resolve complaints. Among other things, administrators will offer training sessions for staff and students on the university's policy against harassment, and will make more efforts to interest low-income and minority students in attending UC San Diego, where about 2% of the undergraduate student body is African American.

Los Angeles schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said Thursday that he will reassign three South Los Angeles elementary school teachers who were suspended for having their students display pictures of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul in a Black History Month parade. Cortines said he had no evidence that the teachers' actions were racially motivated. But he said, "I think it was an exercise of very poor judgment." "These were not novice teachers," he said. The teachers, white men who teach first, second and fourth grades at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School, were suspended without pay for three days and will be kept out of the classroom until they are assigned to three other schools.

Shukree Hassan Tilghman's relationship with Black History Month is complicated. On the one hand, Tilghman is grateful that PBS is airing his first documentary, "More Than a Month," along with a number of other such projects during Black History Month. On the other hand, in the film, he wanders New York's Times Square wearing a sandwich board sign reading, "End Black History Month. " "Yes, the irony is not lost on me," Tilghman, 29, said with a smile prior to a screening of his project in Pasadena.

UC San Diego leaders and civil rights activists have condemned a student party that mocked Black History Month with a ghetto-themed "Compton Cookout." Campus administrators said Wednesday that they were investigating whether the off-campus party, held Monday, and its Facebook invitation violated the university's code of conduct and whether its sponsors should be disciplined. Members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity were identified as among the organizers, but the fraternity president has criticized the event and said his club did not sponsor it. In an e-mail to students and staff, UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said the party showed "blatant disregard of our campus values."

Actress Ellaraino, who has appeared in the film "House Party," the TV show "Beverly Hills, 90210" and in other films and series, will lead two storytelling shows at the annual exhibition of fine art in honor of Black History Month. The event continues today through Sunday at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 3650 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., with storytelling, children's theater, magic and juggling, mask-making, and arts and crafts. Ellaraino will appear today at 10 a.m.

In 1926, educator Carter G. Woodson--often called the father of black history--organized Negro History Week to recognize the accomplishments of blacks in history, the arts and sciences, business and all other facets of American life. The event became Black History Month in 1976. Is this celebration still timely, or is it one that has outlived its usefulness? MARY REESE BOYKIN spoke with an advocate of the celebration.

Their best player soars over the imagination, their young stars sprint past old stereotypes and, goodness, they were even athletic enough to kick out Baron Davis. If only the Clippers could stop tripping over their owner. When Blake Griffin roars, it is drowned out by Donald Sterling's heckling. When Eric Gordon shoots, it is overshadowed by Donald Sterling being sued. Nowhere is the tug between good and creepy more evident than in this newspaper, where, for every positive Clippers story, there seemingly appears an awkward Sterling advertisement, which brings us to the latest Donald T. Shame.

The struggles of black citizens in South Africa to overcome a brutal government-imposed system of race separation are right out of a history book to a student like Robert Virgen. At 15, the Santee Education Complex sophomore hadn't been born when anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was released from decades in prison or when the country held its first multiracial elections. But when one of the heroes of that time, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, came to this downtown high school for a Black History Month celebration Thursday, Virgen said he felt a kinship that transcended time, geography and race.

"Sports Great Shaquille O'Neal" Michael John Sullivan Shaquille O'Neal was born March 6, 1972, in Newark, N.J. He enjoyed playing basketball when he was growing up. He played on the Louisiana State basketball team for three years. The NBA offered Shaq a contract. He played for the Orlando Magic. Then he was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers. Find out more about him by reading this book. Reviewed by Allan, 9 R. D. White Elementary Glendale "The Story of Ruby Bridges" Robert Coles Ruby Bridges was a young black girl who went to an all-white school in the early '50s.

Two rarely seen but important films dealing with African Americans ? "Intruder in the Dust" (1949) and "The Learning Tree" (1969) ? are making their DVD premieres Tuesday from Warner Archives to celebrate Black History Month. Based on William Faulkner's novel, "Intruder in the Dust" was one of the first Hollywood films dealing with racial bigotry. Juano Hernandez earned a Golden Globe nomination as best newcomer for his seminal turn as a proud black farmer who is arrested and goes to trial for allegedly killing a white man. "The Learning Tree" marks the first time a major studio film was directed by an African American.

In an interview with the L.A. Times 20 years ago, Sidney Poitier, the first African American superstar and the first to win the lead actor Oscar (for 1963's "Lilies of the Field") discussed the extreme prejudice and hardships faced by African American performers in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. "The guys who were forerunners to me, like Canada Lee, Rex Ingram, Clarence Muse and women like Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers and Juanita Moore, they were terribly boxed in," Poitier said then.

We are taught to believe that ideology is the enemy of free thought. But that's not right. Ideology is a mere checklist of principles and priorities. The real enemy of clear thinking is the script. We think the world is supposed to go by a familiar plot. And when the facts conflict with the script, we edit the facts. So, for instance, David Horowitz is a stock villain on U.S. campuses because he deviates from the standard formula of coddling the usual victims and lionizing the usual heroes.

Los Angeles schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines said Thursday that he will reassign three South Los Angeles elementary school teachers who were suspended for having their students display pictures of O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul in a Black History Month parade. Cortines said he had no evidence that the teachers' actions were racially motivated. But he said, "I think it was an exercise of very poor judgment." "These were not novice teachers," he said. The teachers, white men who teach first, second and fourth grades at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School, were suspended without pay for three days and will be kept out of the classroom until they are assigned to three other schools.