A California high school student who wrote about a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan for a history project sparked outrage when he came to school dressed in the conical hood, white fabric mask and flowing robes of the group, KABC reported.
Photos of social media captured a high school freshman dressed in KKK garb at Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy in Wilmington, California. Students at the school said the photos were taken June 8.
The school has a 96 percent minority enrollment, CNN reported.
The student’s history project was about Hiram Wesley Evans, a dentist who was the Klan’s leader from 1922 to 1939. While other students also dressed in costumes to depict historical figures, students at the school were taken aback by the KKK outfit, which they said was approved by the teacher.
"He wore it like throughout the school, like in nutrition, lunch, things like that. I don't think that's appropriate," Lance Dantignac told KABC.
"It made me feel like unsafe and threatened," Eliza Dumag told the television station.
Students said the history teacher approved all choices for history projects and costumes that are worn, but added that the approval of a KKK member was troubling.
"It kind of rattled me. It was hard to believe that she would allow a klansman to walk around from her approval,” Trinity Young told KABC. “So, we asked her, and she said that, she compared the Klan to the Black Panther Party, which in my opinion are two different things. So yeah, it was troubling."
In a statement, officials from the Los Angeles Unified School District apologized and did not approve of the costume.
"L.A. Unified and Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy understand the extreme sensitivity around this issue and do not condone or support this type of re-enactment," said district officials, who added that they have begun an investigation.
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