History needs to be taught, I am down with that BUT there are ways of doing it! We previously wrote about the outrage over a Chicago South Side school holding a mock slave auction for school spirit (read here) and you’d think that was a one off.

However, reports have emerged that now a New Jersey elementary held a mock slave auction. Apparently the students decided to do so whilst under the supervision of a substitute teacher.

It was organized as they studied colonization and the Triangular Slave Trade. They filmed the auction and this is how their regular teacher found out about it!

She wrote to parents according to NJ.com to let them know what had happened.

In the letter to the parents the teacher wrote:

“While I understand the creative effort, and the impact it had upon the students who viewed this, I used it as a teachable moment to elaborate on the gravity of this part of our history,”

“I was concerned about the students who viewed and participated in this re-enactment and would like to convey this event to you so we can address the students’ perceptions as a whole.”

A spokeswoman for the district, Suzanne Turner, mad a statement saying:

“The activity was not part of the curriculum, not part of the teacher’s assignment, not condoned by the teacher, not authorized by the district.”

“Upon hearing about the impromptu re-enactment and video while she was out, the teacher proactively reached out to parents to inform them not only of what had happened, but also how she was addressing this with students.”

In this case it seems the student and the temp teacher were the problem. Their proper teacher acted correctly, do you agree?