Richland 2 nixes slavery journal assignment as insensitive

Richland School District 2 has scrapped an assignment asking third-grade students to pretend to be slaves.

Officials pulled the five-page handout entitled “My Life as a Slave” after a parent complained it wasn’t appropriate for 8-year-old students at Killian Elementary in Columbia.

The students were to discuss being kidnapped from West Africa, riding on a slave ship and being sold at auction. The journal also asks students to draw pictures and discuss life with their slave owners.

School officials say three teachers found the lesson online and ordered it. District spokeswoman Libby Roof says one class had done the assignment, which won’t be distributed to the other two.

District diversity officer Helen Grant says teachers will brainstorm about more culturally sensitive plans in the future.

The Richland Two Black Parents Association previously has urged the district to develop a cultural competency plan for teachers and administrators in the district.

The group said in the press release that the teacher should have realized beforehand the uneasiness and discomfort that the assignment would have caused the students and seen it once the assignment was under way.

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Richland 2 nixes slavery journal assignment as insensitive."