Parents Are Furious After Teacher Holds Mock Slave Auction in Class

A fifth-grade teacher has been suspended indefinitely after holding a mock slave auction with her class, the incident took place at the Chapel School at the Village Lutheran Church in Bronxville, New York.

One of the student’s mother, Vernex Harding told the press that the white teacher allowed white students to “bid” on their black classmates who were pretending to be slaves.

The principal of the Chapel School told NBC News that a third party would be conducting an independent review of the incident, “The reported racial insensitivity is unacceptable, and we do not condone any action that demeans anyone,” said Michael Shultz.

The teacher’s lawyer said an auction never took place and said, “To the extent, anyone took offense to a small portion of the overall lesson that day that was used solely to emphasize the tragic injustice of slavery, it certainly was never intended.”

New York’s Attorney General Letitia James says her office is “monitoring the matter closely.” Meanwhile, Harding says she is “horrified and shaken” and her son was “humiliated.”

Do you think there is ever a reason to act out something that dehumanized a culture in the pursuit of education?

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