You know, when we said Florida needs to teach the real version Black history, we didn’t mean putting a toddler in handcuffs and calling her Rosa Parks! Yes, this happened and according to the NAACP, the daycare in question ought to be placed under investigation.
The NAACP Center for Education Innovation and Research and NAACP Florida State Conference penned a letter to the Florida Department of Children and Families in concern of an incident that happened at Building Brains Academy in Osceola, Fla. The civil rights organization says in a role-play instruction on Rosa Parks, a 2-year-old Black girl was handcuffed and fingerprinted by a white peer. The girl’s parents had photographs of the activity and upon confronting the school, claimed they were refused an apology.
“The authors of this letter, including Dr. Ivory Toldson, NAACP Director of Education, and Dr. Adora Nweze, President of the Florida State Conference, have unequivocally condemned this act. They rightly emphasize the inappropriate trivialization of a significant historical event, the insensitivity to the struggles against segregation, and the psychological harm inflicted on Black students by reenacting such a traumatic moment in American history,” the letter reads.
Role-play activities are a common form of instructing the kiddos but shouldn’t there should be a line drawn when it comes to recreating the horrors of America’s past. The daycare responded to the heat saying the photos taken of the demonstration didn’t “offer a complete or accurate representation” of the lesson on respect and equality, per FOX 35 News. However, they said they regretted the assumption their teachers would intentionally make a child feel uncomfortable.
Not exactly an apology but *shrugs*.
The NAACP demanded the daycare issue an apology admitting their wrongdoings and also called for a comprehensive audit of their instructional practices to ensure no other Black students are subject to being a prop in a teacher’s history lesson. The NAACP also assured they are exploring “all legal avenues” to address this incident.
The Root contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families to confirm if they will investigate the incident, but have not received a call back yet.