New Jersey school slammed for 'slave auction' posters
A New Jersey school is under fire over a controversial grade school assignment.
Recently, South Mountain Elementary School in South Orange, N.J., displayed assignments by a Grade 5 class. The students were instructed to draw “slave auction” posters and display them at the school. It wasn’t until parents expressed concern that the school took down the posters and apologized.
Like most public schools, South Mountain Elementary School has a curriculum that teaches students about Colonial America. For one class assignment students were required to design slave posters that reflected this time in history.
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The posters were discovered during parent-teacher meetings when one parent, Jamil Karriem, posted photos of the drawings to Facebook, asking parents to fight the offensive assignment.
“These images were on display for all students (ages ranging from 4-10) to see, including those that would lack any context of the underlying ‘lesson’ or ‘purpose’” he wrote in his post. “It is completely lost on me how this project could be an effective way to teach any student in any age group about American history.”
The posters featured people with brown skin and trivial descriptions, some even offering money for runaway slaves. With captions like: “Anne, aged 12, a fine house girl,” and “Wanted. Dead or alive,” some parents questioned how this particular assignment was educational. Other parents thought the posters were a proactive way to teach the children about the history of slavery.
“Neglect to discuss these painful topics within our communities and schools is part of the reason we are in some of the situations we are in. It’s ugly, raw, painful and just plain sad, however it’s our past. We cannot deny it happened. All we can do is learn from it and teach generations to come of the mistakes that have been previously made,” one user commented on Karriem’s post.
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Superintendent Dr. John J. Ramos Jr. defended the project, saying the children were asked to research a colony and make ads for slave auctions that included their findings. However, the backlash from parents and the community has the school reconsidering the assignment.
“While it was not our intention, we recognize that the example of a slave poster, although historically relevant, was culturally insensitive,” Ramos told CNN.
“We certainly understand and respect the strong reaction which some parents had to seeing slave auction posters included with other artwork from the assignment…We are rethinking the Colonial America Project, and will eliminate the example of a slave auction poster.”
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