Southborough, Massachusetts teacher placed on leave for holding mock slave auction, using racial slur. School principal Kathleen Valenti, also suspended for 10 days for failing to censure teacher following second episode at elementary school.
Teaching America’s history of slavery by literally re-enacting it in class… and being offended when minority students are offended.
A Massachusetts fifth-grade teacher is alleged to have held a mock slave auction, used the ‘N-word‘ in class — and then called out the student who reported them for using the slur — before being placed on paid leave by school administrators.
The unnamed teacher at Margaret A. Neary Elementary School in Southborough, about 30 miles west of Boston, made examples of two children of color during an impromptu ‘auction’ during a January history lesson on the economy of the Southern colonies.
‘The educator asked two children sitting in front of the room, who were of color, to stand, and the educator and class discussed physical attributes (i.e., teeth and strength),’ Superintendent Gregory L. Martineau wrote in a letter to parents.
The school’s student body is 68% white and less than 1.5% black, according to state data.
In his letter, Martineau said holding a mock slave auction was ‘unacceptable,’ trivialized the experiences of victims, and disproportionately traumatized students of color.
But there was more.
During a second incident in April, the same teacher was reading aloud from a book and used the ‘N-word,’ which did not appear in the book.
‘Dehumanizing words such as slurs should not be spoken by employees or students. Using such words can harm students and negatively impact an open discussion on a particular topic,’ Martineau wrote.
Parents of students in the class later met with the teacher and the principal to discuss what had happened.
But the next day, ‘the educator inappropriately called out the student who had reported the educator’s use of the racial slur, which is not acceptable,’ Martineau said.
The district then launched a formal investigation and placed the teacher on leave.
Asked to comment on the matter, a parent of a minority student told WCVB: ‘I think it’s very important to talk about the history cause this country is deeply embedded in that in terms of people having to understand that history, that’ very important.’
Adding, ’but I think there’s ways to teach history without having to be offensive.’
The principal, Kathleen Valenti, was also placed on paid leave for 10 days this month, the Superintendent stated following parent anger at the educator for failing to take ‘any action’ when the teacher allegedly engaged in a second racist lesson in April.
‘I apologize for the events that took place in The Public Schools of Southborough,’ Martineau wrote. ‘I acknowledge that there were missteps in this process that further complicated the situation.’
Martineau pledged to ‘improve our cultural competency’ through a series of steps, including staff training, strengthened internal reporting policies and working directly with the families of affected students.
