An enraged father was in disbelief when he saw his eighth grader’s homework assignment. The student was given a paper with two columns to fill out by listing the “positive aspects” and the “negative aspects” of life as a slave.
The worksheet was titled: “The Life of Slaves: A Balanced View.”
“What the hell is this revisionist history lesson trying to achieve here?!?” asked father Roberto Livar in a furious Facebook post.
Roberto’s child, Manu, attends the San Antonio, Texas charter school Great Hearts Monte Vista, CNN reported.
The school has now come out and distanced itself from the assignment.
“To be clear, there is no debate about slavery. It is immoral and a crime against humanity,” Superintendent Aaron Kindel said in a statement.
He continued: “Our review of the situation found this incident to be limited to one teacher at just one campus. It was a clear mistake and we sincerely apologize for the insensitive nature of this offense. We want to thank the parents who voiced their concern and brought this to our attention.”
The teacher who gave the assignment has been put on leave, the school said, and the textbook it relates to is under review.
The assignment is part of a larger problem in the United States. Since the Civil War, there had been a concerted effort to whitewash history and obscure the horrendous human rights abuses that were ubiquitous at the start of the nation and inherent in the institution of slavery. Presenting “slavery” as something with both positive and negative aspects is part of this effort to downplay the grievous misdeeds of the United States.