Slavery Homework Assignment Teaches Racism, Not Math

“If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in 1 week?” Is the answer 14? Or “are you kidding me Beaver Ridge Elementary School in Norcross, Georgia with this slavery homework assignment? My kid is not answering that question.”

A school in Georgia gave its elementary school students a slavery homework assignment that asked children to solve different word problems based around slavery. One question asked: “Each tree had 56 oranges. If 8 slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the principal at the school will personally work with teachers to come up with more appropriate lessons. But parents at the Georgia school, where a majority of the students are minorities, are demanding an apology.

Christopher Braxton, a parent, said:

“It kind of blew me away. I was furious…. Something like this shouldn’t be embedded into a kid of the third, fourth, fifth, any grade.”

According to the AJC, the last accountability report for Beaver Ridge says that there are 1200 students at the school. 62% are hispanic, 24% are black, and 5% are white.

Jennifer Falk, a community activist, said:

“I think the teachers should be reprimanded for using that poor judgment, and an apology should be made. But the bigger question is how could something like this happen?”

The slavery homework assignment should have been reviewed by the district before it was distributed to students, but according to district spokeswoman Sloan Roach, that didn’t happen in this case.

The Beaver Ridge Elementary School isn’t the only organization getting in trouble for racism lately. A Papa John’s customer recently received a receipt with a racial slur printed on it. Papa John’s fired the employee who issued the receipt and offered a public apology. Do you think the Beaver Ridge Elementary School should do the same?