Students at the school in South Orange were assigned to examine “the ugly and foundational role that slavery played in Colonial America,” Ramos said. “We are rethinking the Colonial America Project for next year, and will eliminate the example of a slave auction poster.” “We certainly understand and respect the strong reaction which some parents had to seeing slave auction posters included with other artwork from the assignment,” he added in a statement sent to CNN. Ramos, Sr., superintendent of the South Orange-Maplewood School District. “While it was not our intention, we recognize that the example of a slave auction poster, although historically relevant, was culturally insensitive,” said Dr. Students also had created wanted posters, apparently for runaway slaves, that depicted brown-skinned men and women with dollar rewards attached. Some parents had complained about the auction posters, which contained such wording as “Men: aged from 20-26, strong” and “Anne, aged 12 years, a fine house girl.” The posters have been taken down from walls at South Mountain Elementary School and the assignment will be rethought next year, the superintendent said.
(CNN) - A New Jersey schools superintendent has apologized for a “culturally insensitive” assignment in which fifth-graders learning about Colonial America were asked to create posters advertising slave auctions.
