Tennessee Mom Files Suit Alleging She Faced Discrimination After Speaking Out About ‘Let’s Make a Slave’ Assignment Given to Fourth Grade Son

An employee of the Metro Nashville School District filed a lawsuit on Nov. 24 alleging that her First and 14th Amendment rights were violated when she was demoted after she spoke out about a “Let’s Make a Slave” assignment given to her fourth grade son at Waverly Belmont Elementary School in February.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in court documents in order to protect the identity of her child, said she was fired from her position with Metro School’s central office, and had a job offer rescinded, after she filed an initial suit.

The family initially filed a suit against the Metro Nashville Public School District on Nov. 3, claiming her autistic fourth grade son, identified as John Doe, was subjected to racial harassment at the hands of teachers and peers during the activity in his class session from this past February.

The “Let’s Make a Slave” assignment, which was taught in two class sessions by a Black female student-teacher, centered on a possibly apocryphal “Let’s Make a Slave” speech about controlling slaves given by a supposed historical figure named William or Willie Lynch in the 1700s. The suit that followed claimed the classroom supervising teacher, Andrew Herman, and the district were aware of the racial harassment and “racially hostile educational environment” but did not take action, the Tennessean reported.

In the new suit, Doe alleged she was demoted to a classroom teaching position after filing the original suit. She claimed she was offered a higher-paying job with more responsibility but the job offer was rescinded after the first suit was filed.

She also claims her previously salary of $115,000 was cut by 30 percent after the new suit was filed.

Doe, who is tenured and can only be fired by the Metro Nashville Board of Education, has requested to be reinstated to her original position and to receive back pay as well as full salary to rectify the tenure violation.

During the in-class activity, students read Willie Lynch’s speech and pretended to be slaves by “folding themselves under their desks and pretending to seek freedom from slavery,” the lawsuit said.

The student-teacher who led the lesson under Herman’s supervision was dismissed after the incident, and Herman was placed on leave but has since returned to work.

MNPS acknowledged that the lesson material was innapropriate for fourth grade, and a spokesperson for the district denied that Doe’s termination was related to the incident.

The spokesperson said “the position in question was one of several that were consolidated, eliminated, or reclassified,” as a part of a reorganization process intended to save money.

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