Unusual classroom activities meant to commemorate Black History Month have sparked outrage from parents
A Massachusetts preschool is closing its doors indefinitely after a class assignment saw children don a form of ‘blackface’ to mark Black History Month, with the facility issuing a lengthy apology to irate parents amid the controversy.
A statement was shared by the ICKids preschool Newtown in Massachusetts late last week. It stated that a teacher from the school had committed suicide. “carried out an activity that involved black mask/black face,”And that one parent complained later that the assignment wasn’t fair. “offensive.”
Although the school confirmed that the employee in question had been fired due to the incident, the school added some ambiguity. “Considering of protests [sic] happening at the center that will put the children at risk… we are closing the ICKids daycare at this time.”
The preschool did not elaborate on what the controversial ‘blackface’ activity entailed, however a Facebook post by a self-described relative of a student there shared a photo taken in the classroom, in which children are seen with what appear to be paper plates with black faces painted on them. A little girl holding a plate on her head is used as a mask.
“My cousin sent me a picture of… her child’s daycare in the town of Newton, Ma. This is how they decided to celebrate Black history month, by having the students make Black Face,”A family member signed the photograph.
Nadirah, Nadirah’s mother, explained to a local NBC affiliate what the assignment was. “unacceptable,”Addition “I don’t really understand the concept of this project.”
The mother was also critical of the school’s initial apology, which stated “To all who are offended, we sincerely apologize for what happened with one of our classroom activities: blackface.”
“Unfortunately we didn’t do enough research on black history and carried out a wrong activity. We are sorry about it and we mean it!”It continued as the original statement. Pierce described the missive as “empty,”And he said that the longer mea culpa, posted on Facebook was still valid. “disheartening.”
Although the Newton school stated it would shut down for an unknown period, it indicated that it may someday resume its operations. “In the event that we reopen our doors all staff will be trained in Diversity”That and more “Multicultural issues in child care and other mandated professional development will be done continuously through the year.”
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