
A middle school in Alabama had to issue an apology, after handing out a homework exercise which asked students to imagine that they're families were slave owners.
The assignment, which was given to eighth graders at Sunset Middle School in Brentwood Tennessee, gave several tasks relating to immigration, child labour and slavery.
The prompts included creating a public service announcement about the hazards of living in urban areas, and drawing a political cartoon depicting immigrant labour – but the most alarming of them all read:
Your family owns slaves. Create a list of expectations for your family's slaves
The tone-deaf homework went viral after the brother of one of the students, Dan Fountain, posted a picture of the chart on Twitter.
What are y’alls a thoughts on my sisters HW?🤔 https://t.co/HLp1NJdJtg— Danny Boy (@Danny Boy) 1551319654
When asked why he posted the picture on social media, Fountain said:
It initially made me angry. The fact that my sister is one of a couple of black kids at her school, I can't let things like this sit around and slide
Sunset Middle School is 70 per cent white.
Many people seemed to agree with Fountain's line of thinking, commenting on the post to voice their disgust.
@danholfountain there are so many problems with this I don’t even know where to start— Caitlin (@Caitlin) 1551369525
@danholfountain This is T R A S H. Dear god. I’m reeling.— Lady Stoneheart (@Lady Stoneheart) 1551324822
@danholfountain I'm sorry, what!? 😧— Derek The Explorer 🏔🐚 (@Derek The Explorer 🏔🐚) 1551401789
@danholfountain @hayden1222 That is sick and disgusting. I'm wondering if this teacher has ever asked students to a… https://t.co/rGC3Xm0MgF— Toi (@Toi) 1551411271
@hayden1222 EXACTLY MY THOUGHTS. This teacher put my sister and many other students in a very uncomfortable spot he… https://t.co/oX2ydzyyPX— Danny Boy (@Danny Boy) 1551324946
@danholfountain I hope you brought this to the schools attention since nobody else apparently has in her 40 years.— SlightlyAngryJasonSnider (@SlightlyAngryJasonSnider) 1551359852
After the story went viral, and several complaints from parents were issued, the school apologised. Superintendent Mike Looney, said:
We have been providing professional training to our staff members on cultural awareness this year, but I admit that we have more work to do in this area.
Please know, we are absolutely committed to ensuring all of our students feel welcome, wanted, and worthwhile.
https://t.co/JZ8p854ZJs— Dr. Mike Looney (@Dr. Mike Looney) 1551376039
Meanwhile, the teachers who assigned the paper, Susan Hooper and Kim Best, also sent out an apology via email. They said:
This week, we gave our students an assignment we recognise was inappropriate. We have pulled the assignment, and no grade will be given
We have and will be apologising to our students. It was never our intention to hurt any of our students
HT New York Post
More: 'Only for white people': Filipino family subjected to horrific racist tirade in New Zealand
