Black student forced to participate in slavery reenactment

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Really what in the heck were these people thinking?

Two parents have filed a human rights complaint against the Hartford school system after their 12-year-old daughter was forced to participate in a slavery reenactment on a class trip. Last year, Sandra and James Baker of Farmington, Connecticut sent their daughter, then a student at Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy, on a four-day class trip to the Nature's Classroom program in Charlton, MA.

When their daughter, who is African American, returned home from the trip, she told her parents about the Nature's Classroom experience. On the third night of camp, instructors—acting the part of white masters—began the “educational” exercise. First they told the young girl that if she were to run “they would whip me until I bled on the floor and then either cut my Achilles so I couldn't run again, or hang me.”

The exercise also forced students to do a lot of pretending:

They pretended to be on a slave ship.

They pretended to pick cotton.

They pretended their instructors were their masters.
And, in the spirit of historical accuracy, the students were also called the “n” word and chased through the woods by their white masters.

According to reports, students were told they didn’t have to participate in the “Underground Railroad skit,” but were only told 30 minutes in advance of the activity. And based on the title of the activity, it also seems the 7th graders were more than a little misled.

This is not the first time there have been complaints about the camp, but the complaints did not stop this school and several other Connecticut school systems from continuing to participate in the “skit.”

The Bakers have since removed their daughter from the school system but they’ve pursued the complaint, they say, to hold school administrators accountable for "terrorizing" the children.

 

[Teelie]

It's not even that she's black that makes this is offensive (for her it can only be more offensive). It's that they forced or misled the children into doing this that's terrible.

I get the need to show people just how bad slavery was and why it was outlawed but these are children, they shouldn't have to reenact it. Just having them see it with actors in the roles might even be too much let alone them being the "slaves" in this trip.

 

[jonathancrane]

We had a similar experiment in the 5th grade. The teacher decided to have us re-enact a slave auction; I was one of the slaves and remember my bio card as freshly as when I first saw it: "Your name is Sam. You are happy to have been taken out of the jungle and from your savagery." And we had to act the part that was prescribed to us: we had to wait on the "masters" who bought us. Mine ordered me to take her dishes to the garbage can and I refused. She threw a tantrum and I had to deal with my classmates' insults, but, I refused to do it.

God, I hate my grade school.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

We had a similar experiment in the 5th grade. The teacher decided to have us re-enact a slave auction; I was one of the slaves and remember my bio card as freshly as when I first saw it: "Your name is Sam. You are happy to have been taken out of the jungle and from your savagery." And we had to act the part that was prescribed to us: we had to wait on the "masters" who bought us. Mine ordered me to take her dishes to the garbage can and I refused. She threw a tantrum and I had to deal with my classmates' insults, but, I refused to do it.

God, I hate my grade school.

Wow that's pretty screwed up too. Did you go to school in the south?

 

[Anita18]

We had a similar experiment in the 5th grade. The teacher decided to have us re-enact a slave auction; I was one of the slaves and remember my bio card as freshly as when I first saw it: "Your name is Sam. You are happy to have been taken out of the jungle and from your savagery." And we had to act the part that was prescribed to us: we had to wait on the "masters" who bought us. Mine ordered me to take her dishes to the garbage can and I refused. She threw a tantrum and I had to deal with my classmates' insults, but, I refused to do it.

God, I hate my grade school.

What in the ever-loving f***.

 

[jonathancrane]

Wow that's pretty screwed up too. Did you go to school in the south?

Nope, Pennsylvania.

 

[Quasimod0]

That's pretty intense. I have to admit I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Seriously though, students shouldn't be forced to do this. And it sounds like a dumb idea in the first place

 

[Pink Ranger]

The most poisonous part is, this piece of curricilum and others like it has all the hallmarks of something a leftist progressive intellectual would have designed.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Nope, Pennsylvania.

Weird, I wonder if this is still part of their curriculum?

 

[terry78]

You damn hippies and your attempts at showing the evils of society backfiring and ****.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

so wait they actually threaten to hang and chased 12-13 year olds through the woods, to teach them??

how inbred backward brainless gutless moronic are these asshats

 

[NickNitro]

I have to say I got my dose of racism today. Thanks Hype

 

[terry78]

I have to say I got my dose of racism today. Thanks Hype

It's early yet.

 

[Victarion]

Or they could have just read Beloved instead.

 

[Tempest]

I would love to make a suggestion on how this "skit" could have been handled in a non-offensive manner, but I'm drawing a blank.

Who in their right mind would think this is a good idea?

 

[cherokeesam]

Nope, Pennsylvania.

See, this just compounds and expands the insults and bigotry even further. This isn't even an example of "ignorant rednecks" in the South pulling some bull**** stunts like these, this is Northerners *acting* the way *they* think Southerners acted (and still act). In the process, they're showing their absolute stupidity and lack of knowledge about the South and Southern culture *as well* as their absolute stupidity and lack of knowledge about blacks and black culture.

There's not one damn person on this planet who doesn't think that slavery was one of the worst institutions known to man. But trying to act out these stereotyped Mandingo skits to try to justify what amounts to a hazing ritual to scare unsuspecting children is utterly repulsive. Charges should be brought against these asshats.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I would love to see how they teach kids about the Shoah.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I remember in the 10th or 11th grade we watched Schindler's List and were given a scenario where we took the role of a Jewish doctor, soldier, priest, etc.

We had to decide which profession was needed and who was expendable. I was the priest. I made my case that spirituality was important but ultimately I was voted out.

It was an interesting exercise and the movie made an impact but I doubt it was very memorable to the other students.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Well, that's one way to get sued.

 

[Boom]

It always warms my heart seeing people gifted lawsuits.

 

[Manic]

See, this is what happens when Roots stops airing on TV every year like clockwork.

 

[Schlosser85]

If you want to talk about the Golden Dawn Party in Greece, then create a thread for it.

 

[Schlosser85]

Again....if you want to talk about a neo-Nazi party in Greece...then create a thread, and stop discussing it in a thread about a different subject. I just deleted a string of replies back and forth about it, I don't want to come back in half an hour and have to do it all over again.

 

[bullets]

"And, in the spirit of historical accuracy, the students were also called the “n” word and chased through the woods by their white masters."

Which probably promotes that type of activity throughout the school year. What's to stop bullies from "playing slave master" during recess. I remember after the rodney king beating kids at school would jump others and scream "Rodney".

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Was this organised by Philip Zimbardo?