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New Jersey school asks fifth-graders to make slave auction posters
New Jersey school asks fifth-graders to make slave auction posters
Photo of poster courtesy of Jamil Karriem's Facebook account.

New Jersey School Apologizes For Asking Fifth-Graders To Create Slave Auction Posters

New Jersey school asks fifth-graders to make slave auction posters Photo of poster courtesy of Jamil Karriem's Facebook account.

There are good ideas, bad ideas, and really bad ideas.

This is a story about a really bad idea.

Fifth-grade students from South Mountain Elementary School, in South Orange, New Jersey, were asked to complete an assignment in which they would have to make slave auction posters. This is bad enough.

What made matters worse is that those posters were then hung around the school. Parents blasted the photos all over social media. One post in particular, from Jamil Karriem, was especially potent, and went viral.

Dr. John J. Ramos, Sr the superintendent working out of the South Orange-Maplewood School District, apologized for his school's error in a statement to CNN:

"While it was not our intention, we recognize that the example of a slave auction poster, although historically relevant, was culturally insensitive. We certainly understand and respect the strong reaction which some parents had to seeing slave auction posters included with other artwork from the assignment. We are rethinking the Colonial America Project for next year, and will eliminate the example of a slave auction poster."

So what's the lesson here? Come with good ideas. Not really bad ones.