One mother is outraged over a teacher’s lesson on slavery, which she’s calling “a bit much”. School officials in Rochester, MI are now investigating the incident.
Jacquelyn Night-Oliver, a mother of one of the fifth-graders at Meadow Brooke Elementary school said her daughter was extremely uncomfortable during a class activity that required students to lay on the floor to “show how uncomfortable it was on the slavery ships.”
“My thing is, what’s next? Is she going to bring in a gas chamber and recreate the Holocaust,” Night-Oliver questioned. “What’s really going on?”
The activity was not only uncomfortable for the four black students, but they had to allegedly listen to racist jokes made by their white classmates and teacher, WXYZ reported.
Superintendent of Rochester Community Schools, Robert Shaner, posted a Facebook message addressing the incident.
“This morning, it was brought to my attention that several students at Meadow Brook Elementary School were made to feel uncomfortable during a classroom exercise on slavery… I sincerely and wholeheartedly apologize for any pain the incident may have caused,” he stated. “I want to assure our community that this situation will be thoroughly investigated.”
Night-Oliver said she doesn’t want to see the teacher lose her job, but more so prevent another incident like this from occurring.
“As a teacher and as an adult, I would think you know to step in and say this is not a laughing matter,” she assured. “But for her to laugh with them, I was taken aback by that.”
