D.C. Elementary School Apologizes After Black Students Were Asked To Portray Slaves
Lafayette elementary school in DC is currently under fire for asking their black student population to portray slaves.
During the lesson, one black student was reportedly asked to drink from a segregated water fountain.
The Principal, Carrie Broquard, sent a letter of apology to the families of the students affected.
She stated, “At Lafayette, we believe in the importance of teaching painful history with sensitivity and social awareness,” Broquard wrote in the letter, dated Dec. 23. “Unfortunately, we fell short of those values in a recent 5th-grade lesson.”
Fox News Reports:
The fifth-graders had the option to show what they learned about the war and its aftermath by creating a dramatic reading or a podcast.
The roles requested by students after they broke into groups, included that of an enslaved person and a person of color drinking from a segregated water fountain, according to letters from the school obtained by the Washington Post.
In the letters, Broquard said the students reported being uncomfortable with such casting.
“During the classroom circles and small group discussions, students expressed discomfort in the roles they were asked to play,” Broquard wrote. “Others expressed uncertainty in how to respond or advocate for peers who were uncomfortable.”
School staff will undergo diversity training next month. Broquard didn’t respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.
How do y’all feel about this situation? What would you have done if your child was in this position? Let me know in the comments.
And now you’re officially in the KNOW!
