Some Georgia parents are outraged after their elementary students went on a school trip to the historic Mable House in the Atlanta suburb of Mableton, Georgia.
School officials say they were not pleased with how the lesson was presented to the class and canceled trips to the plantation indefinitely.
While visiting the historic home and plantation on Tuesday, April 11, the students from W.C. Abney Elementary School were exposed to an interactive lesson about the antebellum South and the social nuances of Georgia during the Civil War — including how much an enslaved person would cost in comparison to items they would be familiar with.
A storyteller working at the exhibition asked students to participate in an interactive lesson on the sale of African-Americans. Many of the students’ families spoke out and called the activity “terrible,” as it had students hold up signs with dollar amounts signifying the value of human life.
Related: ‘It Was Uncalled For’: Outraged Texas Mother Demands High School Teacher be Fired for Allegedly Forcing Lone Black Student In History Class to Play ‘Fugitive Slave’
School officials describe the lesson as the storyteller “asked Abney Elementary third-grade students to hold placards while standing in front of their classmates. The intent was to explain the cost of slaves in comparison to other items.”
The principal of the school took action after an African-American parent contacted the school. According to sources, the administrator insisted that graphic descriptions of American history be omitted in future visits to the Mable House.
Mable House contends no student was asked to pretend to be an enslaved person during this activity and that this is the first time a complaint has been made about this lesson, which they believe was taught by a Black person with care and tenderness.
One father, Larry Johnson, a white man, commented on the experience and questioned why the brutality of…
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