There are some things that should just never happen and this is one of them. According to a report by WWNY 7 News, an elementary school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after instructing students to conduct a mock slave auction. A mother of one of the children involved in the class exercise has spoken out about just how problematic the situation was.
"He and another African American child were put up in the middle of the class and told they were now slaves," said Nicole Dayes about her 10-year-old son. "The teacher then started the 'bidding' by assigning prices to the Caucasian students. After the winning bid was placed, my son was then told how slaves would take the slave owners' last name and what he was to call the slave owner by. Then my son and the other 'slave' were instructed to call the Caucasian child by 'master' and the child’s last name."
It's important for children to learn about the history of slavery but this... this is not the way to do it. As noted by Complex, the teacher in question has been placed on leave after exhibiting "poor judgment." "The Watertown City School District has received complaints from parents that a fourth grade teacher exercised poor judgment in teaching a recent lesson," wrote the district in a statement. "The teacher has been placed on administrative leave pending a full investigation into the matter. The school district will not be providing additional comments until the investigation has been completed."
You may recall that in April, a similar incident happened in Jacksonville when a teacher used racist language and played "slave games" in class.
