It was supposed to be a stark reminder of the racism that stained the Jim Crow South. However the mom of two Honey Creek Elementary Faculty college students stated the lesson went too far after they found “Whites Solely” and “Coloreds Solely” indicators posted above water fountains.
A lady named Nikisha (whose household’s final identify is being withheld) instructed 11 Alive Information station her fifth grade son, Kingston, and his first grade sister got here house from the suburban Atlanta faculty final week confused and upset by what they noticed of their faculty hallway.
“We simply got here again from recess, and we have been going by way of the cafeteria,” Kingston recalled. “I used to be going to get water, and over the water fountain, my pals instructed me to search for. There was a observe — it stated ‘Coloreds Solely.’”
Kingston instructed a instructor concerning the signal and it was promptly taken down. However he would quickly uncover different troubling indicators, together with one which learn “Whites Solely” by the college nurse’s workplace.
“And my little sister noticed extra indicators too,” he stated. “They weren’t simply in a single place.”
KIngston stated the indicators made him really feel alienated.
“I felt type of offended and awkward, as a result of there’s not simply Black folks in our college — there are additionally white folks and different races,” he stated. “It made me really feel like we have been being separated by race.”
Nikisha contacted faculty directors.
“It took me aback. I used to be like, what’s occurring?” she stated. “Instantly after getting the main points from my kids, I despatched an electronic mail to the principal and superintendent.”
The principal responded with an electronic mail thanking her talking out and confirming that the incident can be investigated.
Faculty superintendent Shirley Chesser additionally contacted Nikisha and on Thursday publicly addressed the controversy for the primary time. The incident was not a prank, she stated, however as a substitute an unauthorized social research exercise supposed for first grade college students.
“This exercise didn’t align with district expectations, and we acknowledge that this may increasingly have been hurtful,” Chesser stated through the faculty board assembly.
Kingston stated different college students laughed on the indicators.
“I believed it was like racist, and I believed no one ought to really feel that approach,” the fifth grader instructed 11 Alive. “I don’t assume anybody ought to really feel like they shouldn’t belong in sure areas due to their pores and skin coloration.”
The Georgia chapter of the NAACP condemned the episode, calling it a “a chilling echo of our nation’s darkest chapters.”
“It’s a stark reminder that the legacy of segregation isn’t historical past for a lot of—it’s nonetheless a lived actuality,” the state NAACP stated.
The indicators weren’t a part of the instructor’s submitted lesson plan and weren’t accredited by directors, the superintendent stated. An investigation was promptly opened by the Rockdale County Faculty District’s human sources division.
They discovered the indicators originated from a lesson about historic determine Ruby Bridges, the primary Black pupil to attend a previously whites-only New Orleans elementary faculty in 1960.
Earlier this week, following Nikisha’s complaints, the Rockdale faculty board despatched a letter to folks making an attempt to clarify how the indicators bought posted.
The letter stated the instructor didn’t adhere to accredited sources or really useful classes supplied by the district. The indicators have been “inappropriate and unvetted,” the district stated, although they insisted the instructor had no unwell intent. They might not say whether or not the instructor was disciplined.
Many on-line are outraged together with the mother and father. “If the Trainer used a lesson plan that was not accredited. When is she being fired?” requested on person on Atlanta Black Star’s Instagram.
The NAACP referred to as for immediate “complete, systemic change,” together with:
Obligatory anti-racism schooling rooted in historic fact.
Cultural competency coaching for all educators, directors, and college students.
Protected areas for dialogue led by trusted voices from our communities.
Clear engagement with mother and father and stakeholders, rooted in belief, fairness, and restore.
Nikisha stated she was disillusioned the instructor accountable for the indicators stays on the faculty.
“Accountability on this case appears like whomever took it upon themselves to put that signal is faraway from educating our youngsters,” she stated to 11 Alive. “As a result of I really feel as if what the motive and the best way that it was finished, it did trigger hurt… they shouldn’t be instructing at Honey Creek anymore.”
