Parents Outraged after Gym Teacher Allegedly Tells Black 7th Graders to Research 'Slave Games'

A Wisconsin teacher has been placed on leave after giving her students a controversial assignment: Learning to play "slave games."

The parents of students at Shorewood Intermediate School are up in arms after a gym teacher told their seventh graders to learn to play "slave games."

The teacher separated the children into groups based on their race and asked them to research games from their cultures.

SLAVE GAMES FOR BLACK CHILDREN?

According to seventh grader MaHailey Stephens, the teacher then approached the Black children in the class and offered to help them research "slave games":

"She told us to all go get into our groups and then she told us that she would help us research slave games."

This is but one of a slew of incidents in US schools, where slavery, and its history in America, has been presented in an offensive and disturbing manner to young children.

PARENTS SHOCKED OVER "SLAVE GAMES" ASSIGNMENT

MaHailey's mother, Dr. Reshunda Stephens, was horrified when her daughter asked her what were "slave games."

"I've never heard of such a thing. I never knew slaves had opportunities to play games."

SCHOOL DISTRICT REACTS

On April 3, two days after the incident, the Shorewood School District was made aware of the occurrence and sent a letter to the concerned parents:

"A teacher shared an activity with students on the subject of games from around the world. After the class on April 1, allegations were made that the teacher had suggested to African American students in the class that they research games that had been played by enslaved children. The administration became aware of these concerns on April 3. We immediately launched an internal investigation into the matter."

TEACHER SUSPENDED PENDING INVESTIGATION

The teacher involved in the incident has been suspended from her duties pending the School District's investigation into her behavior, which the parents decry as highly inappropriate.

This is but one of a slew of incidents in US schools, where slavery, and its history in America, has been presented in an offensive and disturbing manner to young children.

In each of these unfortunate incidents, African American children have been singled out by teachers, and made to feel different from their peers.

NEW YORK TEACHER FIRED FOR SLAVERY REENACTMENT

In a similar incident, Patricia Cummings, a New York teacher, was fired for what the Education Department considered an inappropriate re-enactment of slaves crossing the ocean.

The teacher asked her students at the William W Niles School in the Bronx to sit close together on the classroom floor, to replicate the conditions in which slaves were transported in ships across the Atlantic.

She then pushed her foot into the student's backs while they were on the floor and said:

"How does it feel? See how it feels to be a slave."

The school district accused Cummings of singling out black students in the class during the reenactment and fired her..

Cummings has announced that she will be suing the New York Department for Education for $1 billion.