Teacher Causes Uproar For Slave Reenactment

POLITICS

» by dummyjordancalston November 7, 2009, 6:40am

This has been a busy week for the NAACP.

After battling a teacher over what someone deemed racist homework, the inglorious organization is now fighting the good fight against an elementary school teacher over one of his lessons.

Ian Campbell, a historian, has found himself in the middle of a firestorm of sorts after having three black students don sacks around their necks and act as field slaves in front of their classmates.

The three students, whom attend Rea View Elementary in Charlotte, North Carolina, compose only a minority fraction of the ethnic representation in the class.

President of the Charlotte-Mackleburg chapter of the NAACP, Kojo Nantambu, had harsh words for the demonstration and its organizer.

“There is a lingering pain, a lingering bitterness, a lingering insecurity, and a lingering sense of inhumanity since slavery,” remarked Nantambu. “Even if the Black children had volunteered, I probably would have tired to use all of the children. That would have made all the children feel equal in the experience.”

In light of the anger geared toward him, Campbell feels that he has done nothing wrong, and rightfully so. In his 15 years of asking kids to participate in demonstrations, never has there been one complaint.

“I am very enthusiastic about getting kids to think about how people did things in 1860, 1861...even before that period,” said Campbell. “I was trying to be historically correct, not politically correct.”

In response to the bad publicity, Campbell has decided to take a new route in order tog et his point across.

“I'm going to start asking for volunteers instead of calling people from the audience. I think that would make it a lot easier. That way if someone is afraid of public speaking or getting up in front of peer, it wouldn't embarrass them.”

Good idea. . .

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