Parents in Lamar County concerned over controversial school assignment

Controversy in the classroom over an assignment from a Mississippi middle school teacher.

Thursday night, parents protested outside the school district office in Lamar County. They are upset that an eighth-grade teacher asked students to write about what it might be like in slavery.

The assignment asks students to ‘pretend like you are a slave working on a Mississippi plantation’ and ‘write a letter to your family back in Africa or in another American state describing your life.’

District leaders say the teacher who assigned the activity did not have malicious intent. Concerned parents aren’t so sure. One parent said, “I was disturbed because first of all because you’re giving an assignment about slavery to children who know nothing about slavery.”

“Giving an assignment to students that will put them in a place that will have racial tension in the classroom because that is what it was.”

Lamar County School District Superintendent Dr. Steven Hampton said, “The delivery was not well and not good and we are doing an investigation to make sure we appropriately address that.”