Google Street View A teacher asked students to pretend to be slaves writing to their family in Africa. The school's principal apologized to parents. A photo of a Mississippi middle-school teacher's writing assignment on slavery has drawn heavy criticism online, with many saying the exercise trivialized the racist institution. Steven Hampton, the Lamar County School District superintendent, told WDAM that the assignment in question was at the end of the slideshow presentation on the "atrocities and negatives of slavery" given Wednesday to a class of eighth graders at Purvis Middle School. Students were asked 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," according to the image of the assignment that was posted online.