A White schoolteacher in Upstate New York is under fire after he made Black students in his class pick cotton in a reenactment of slavery.
The unidentified instructor teaches predominantly Black students in his social studies class in Rochester, New York. He has reportedly been placed on leave as the school district initiates an investigation, the Associated Press reports.
The probe was prompted in the aftermath of the outrage that occurred when one of the students’ parents posted a photo of the cotton on her Facebook page.
“He made a mockery out of slavery,” Precious Tross told the AP.
“I don’t have a problem with you teaching our kids about slavery and what our ancestors went through and how they had to pick cotton,” the mother continued. “Our teachers back in the day told us that, but they don’t bring in cotton and make you pick cotton seeds out of cotton.”
One of the students, Jahmiere O’Neal, crystallized the indignation when he said the instructor’s actions “made me feel bad to be a Black person.”
Adam Urbanski, the teachers union president told local station WXXXI-AM that consequences are inevitable when the “due process” of an investigation has concluded.
