A South Carolina fifth-grade teacher has been placed on administrative leave after she gave students an assignment that asked them to justify the actions of the KKK in the Reconstruction-era South.
The assignment sparked criticism and outrage on social media after a student’s uncle posted a photo of the KKK-focused homework assignment. “You are there,” the prompt reads. “You are a member of the KKK. Why do you think your treatment of African Americans is justified?”
According to the uncle, the student came home crying the day of the assignment. The teacher, Kerri Roberts of Oak Pointe Elementary School in Irmo, South Carolina, was placed on administrative leave the next day. The school district, in a statement to WLTX, said the action was part of a standard investigation and that they were “taking this matter very seriously.”
South Carolina standards for 5th grade require lessons on Reconstruction and discriminatory groups including the KKK. We must teach the standard, but we are taking steps to ensure this particular assignment will never be used again in District Five schools.
We understand the seriousness of this matter particularly in light of the events taking place in our country at this time. We want to ensure that our students, parents, staff and community know that we are giving this matter our full attention.
While it does seem like a particularly charged time to ask students to envision themselves as members of the KKK, as other publications have noted, Roberts isn’t the only one to get in trouble for racially insensitive school assignments. A Los Angeles school gave second-graders a math question about slaves during Black History Month. In April, a Florida teacher gave a diversity-focused worksheet to middle schoolers that really missed the mark.
