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Dad and mom have accused a Virginia highschool of failing to guard Black college students after a historical past lesson involving a bit of uncooked cotton allegedly led to bullying and harassment.
Officers at Riverside Excessive College in Loudoun County, within the DC metro space, confirmed {that a} instructor had handed the cotton round throughout a lesson about slavery and the cotton business final Thursday.
Michelle Thomas, a pastor and the president of the county’s NAACP chapter, stated the issue was not simply the cotton itself however extra that the instructor did not act on the habits it prompted.
“The children then [began] joking about Black folks being enslaved, and it was simply humiliating and deeply embarrassing for the children,” Thomas advised native broadcaster WUSA9.
The instructor’s response to those remarks was “inappropriate” and amounted to “no response,” she added.
Nonetheless, Thomas additionally stated that lecturers want to know the disturbing connotations of cotton to Black college students, saying it was “problematic” {that a} instructor would have the plant readily available.
“It was a poor demonstration. If she was going to show swastikas, she would not usher in a sticker. I am not bringing within the Klan hood; I am not bringing in, you understand, the gown of the Klansman,” she stated.
“So the demonstration was of poor style and judgement, and was culturally insensitive.”
In a press release, the Loudoun County college district stated: “LCPS Administration is conscious of a historical past lesson at Riverside Excessive College which occurred final Thursday.
“The lesson was in a US Historical past class and concerned a dialogue surrounding cotton, the invention of the cotton gin and enslavement. As a part of the dialogue, the instructor handed round a bit of uncooked cotton.
“The lesson was upsetting to some college students. That is opposite to what we imagine the instructor – and LCPS – attempt to perform in our lecture rooms. It’s the division’s intention to attain a protected and inclusive studying atmosphere for all college students. That’s not what occurred right here and we should and can do higher.”
The district additionally stated it had did not uphold its standard coverage of informing dad and mom prematurely when classes overlaying delicate subjects have been deliberate.
This isn’t the primary time Loudoun County’s faculties have been criticized for racially insensitive actions in classes about slavery.
In 2019, the principal of one other college in the identical district apologized after a Black pupil was chosen to play the position of a “runaway slave” in a historical past lesson.
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The Impartial
#Virginia #excessive #college #fireplace #Black #college students #bullied #historical past #lesson #that includes #uncooked #cotton
Io Dodds , 2024-12-17 14:02:00