Viral

Georgia school asks children to write letter 'urging removal of the Cherokee'

Georgia school asks children to write letter 'urging removal of the Cherokee'

A tweet went viral Thursday after a user posted a photo of a child's homework.

Tackling how to teach sensitive and complicated topics - such US oppression of Native Americans - all while keeping the content digestible, is no easy feat.

To make matters more difficult, each state has its own approach to the subjects which means where you live will depend on how the issues are taught. And one viral tweet is highlighting this problem once again.

The homework, from a virtual secular charter school in Georgia, asked students to, "write a letter to President Andrew Jackson, from the perspective of an American settler. Explain why you think removing the Cherokee will help the United States prosper."

The tweeter, Jennifer Martin, was sent the photo of her friend's son's homework and decided to put it on social media Wednesday night.

The assignment quickly gained traction with over 17,000 responses by Thursday morning. Many of the responders were angry with the assignment, arguing that asking children to justify hurting the Cherokee and other Native Americans.

Some responders pointed out that asking the children to take on the perspective of the US government was important to understand history but educators quickly jumped in to explain why the question was harmful.


We were unable to reach the charter school in Georgia where the homework assignment originated from.

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