A ‘Slave letter’ writing activity has sparked outrage at a Mississippi middle school in Lamar County.
Earlier this week, eighth-graders at Purvis Middle School were asked to “pretend like you are a slave working on a Mississippi plantation” and “write a letter to your family back in Africa… describing your life.”
A screenshot of the history assignment titled “Slave Letter Writing Activity” has been shared across social media,
The Daily Beast reports. One bullet point on the exercise tells students: “You may also want to tell about the family you live with/work for and how you pass your time when you aren’t working.”
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A Mississippi school district is facing criticism after a class assignment asked middle schoolers to put themselves in the shoes of an enslaved person, and write letters to friends and family.
The assignment given to eighth-graders at Purvis Middle School told students to pretend like you are a slave working on a Mississippi plantation, according to a screenshot of the assignment that Black Lives Matter Mississippi posted to Twitter. Get push notifications with news, features and more. + Follow
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The students were then instructed to write a letter to your family back in Africa or in another American state describing their lives, their journey to America and their daily tasks.