In honor of Black History Month, fourth graders from Many Waverly-Belmont Elementary in Tennessee received a reading assignment titled, “Let’s Make a Slave.”
The assignment included the following passage: “You need to whip a black man just as you whip a horse and break them as a horse. You need to inbreed them and then take their child away.”
The student teacher who assigned this reading material to the fourth graders told them the content included graphic and offensive information but gave them a choice to either read it or move to the other side of the classroom.
Metro schools issued the following statement:
“A student-teacher was dismissed and asked not to return to Waverly-Belmont as a result of teaching material that was not age appropriate or within the scope of sequence for the 4th grade class. Metro Schools regrets if any students or parents were caused pain as a result of this incident. District leaders have been working with school administrators and parents to address concerns for the students involved.”
From NBC:
The student-teacher’s lesson plan, given to youngsters at Waverly Belmont Elementary School in Nashville, was centered around the notorious — and perhaps apocryphal — 1712 speech by slave owner William Lynch, “The Making of a Slave,” officials said.
The class’ full-time teacher was in the room as this lesson was delivered on Monday and “he has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the Metro Schools investigation into this matter,” according to a statement by district spokesman Sean Braisted,
The student-teacher is an African American female student form nearby Vanderbilt University.
