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Student-teacher dismissed over Black History Month assignment

Video Credit: In The Know Wibbitz - Duration: 01:25s - Published
Student-teacher dismissed over Black History Month assignment

Student-teacher dismissed over Black History Month assignment

A student-teacher was let go from her teaching role after giving her class an assignment that upset several parents.

The student-teacher, who remains unnamed, was a Black female student at Vanderbilt University.

The students were fourth graders at Waverly Belmont Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee.

The task, which was part of a Black History Month lesson plan, was titled ā€œLetā€™s Make A Slave,ā€ .

It was reportedly based on an infamous 1712 speech by William Lynch, a slave owner.

The students were asked, ā€œto keep their slaves subservient, plantation owners should,ā€ with a blank space left for their answer.

One parent, Karen Lockert, whose son is Black, said the exercise forced him to question if his white peers viewed him differently.

ā€œ[My son] felt that sense of looking differently at his friends ā€¦ For me, I said, ā€˜Weā€™re not going to look differently at people unless they treat you differentlyā€™ā€.

Another parent told WZTV that they believed it was ā€œhorrible and wrong to teach this kind of stuff to fourth-gradersā€.

Nashville Metro Public SchoolsĀ issued a statement on the student-teacherā€™s dismissal, saying her teaching material was not ā€œage-appropriateā€ .

Vanderbilt University also released a statement, calling the assignment ā€œan unfortunate situationā€


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