Every February in the United States, Black History Month finds schools focusing a chunk of their curriculum towards teaching students about African-Americans who have made positive contributions to the country’s advancement as a society.
According to PS School 201, an elementary discovery and research institution in Flushing, Queens, Malcolm X was not one of those positive Black figures.
Via NYDailyNews:
Teachers at Public School 201 in Flushing told fourth-graders last week that the controversial activist was “violent” and “bad.” They also refused to let the kids write about the assassinated icon for Black History Month.
Children were asked to pick from several prominent black leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Malcolm X for the project, Minor said.
City Department of Education officials said they were looking into the matter and would not defend it.
Parents such as Cleatress Brown and Angel Minor were immediately outraged upon learning of the news and Brown even went as far as to allow her son to write about Malcolm X regardless and proudly turn the report in.
“I’m outraged. As a teacher, you’re imposing your opinion on a bunch of kids,” she told the school’s principal Rebecca Lozada.
According to a survey, 43 percent of the kids that attend the school are Black.
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Photo: NYC Schools
