A Wisconsin mother was shocked by an assignment from her child’s school asking students to name three “good” and “bad” reasons for slavery.
Parent Trameka Brown-Berry said she was outraged by the social studies assignment and contacted the school immediately.
“It was the fact that she wanted my African-American son to name three good things for slavery,” Brown-Berry told local station WISN 12. “That’s insulting.”
In a statement, leaders with Our Redeemer Lutheran School issued an apology, saying the teacher failed to clearly explain the assignment to students and parents. Brown-Berry’s son is enrolled as a fourth-grader at the Wauwatosa, Wisc. school.
The mother posted a photo of her son’s homework to social media where she found support from fellow users who were just as outraged by the homework.
Does anyone else find my 4th grader's homework offensive?😡
Posted by Trameka Brown-Berry on Monday, January 8, 2018
“We understand that, as presented, the words used showed a lack of sensitivity and were offensive,” principal Jim Van Dellen wrote in a letter to parents Tuesday. “The purpose of the assignment was not, in any way, to have students argue that ANY slavery is acceptable — a concept that goes against our core values and beliefs about the equality and worth of people of all races.”
Moving forward, the school said it plans to discuss sensitive topics with parents ahead of time so that something like this doesn’t happen again.
The assignment has since been removed from the school’s curriculum.
