Student-teacher in Tennessee dismissed over Black History Month assignment on slavery
A Tennessee school district dismissed a student-teacher after the young educator taught a Black History Month lesson to fourth-graders, asking them to recite graphic, violent methods to control slaves, officials said Thursday. The student-teacher's lesson plan, given to youngsters at Waverly Belmont Elementary School in Nashville, was centered around the notorious — and perhaps apocryphal — 1712 speech by slave owner William Lynch, "The Making of a Slave," officials said.
After reading the material in which Lynch purportedly advocated for physical and psychological torture of slaves, students were asked, "To keep their slaves subservient, plantation owners should" with a series of blank bullet points for youngsters to fill in.
"A student-teacher was dismissed and asked not to return to Waverly-Belmont as a result of teaching material that was not age appropriate or within the scope of sequence for the 4th grade class," according to a statement by Metro Nashville Public Schools. “District leaders have been working with school administrators and parents to address concerns for the students involved.”
The class' full-time teacher was in the room as this lesson was delivered on Monday and "he has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the Metro Schools investigation into this matter," according to a statement by district spokesman Sean Braisted,
The student-teacher is an African American female student form nearby Vanderbilt University, according to Braisted and Lockert.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/student-teacher-tennessee-fired-over-black-history-month-assignment-slavery-n1131606
