A Texas school district has come under fire from government officials after parents discovered that their students had been given a class assignment that likened police officers to slave owners and Ku Klux Klan members.
8th grade teachers in a school outside of Dallas, TX (@WylieISD) gave students a home work assignment comparing police officers to slave owners and the KKK.
This is abhorrent and disgusting, and only further widens the gap between police officers and the youth in our community. pic.twitter.com/ELfbjWQu9Z
— Joe Gamaldi (@JoeGamaldi) August 20, 2020
The class assignment included a five-panel cartoon that showed a slave ship officer with his knee on a black man’s neck. The next slide showed a similar image in a different decade that depicted a KKK member with his knee on a black man’s neck. And another image showed what appeared to be a sheriff’s deputy with his knee on a black man’s neck, standing in front of a “white only” sign. The last image showed a cop with his knee on a black man’s neck while the man says, “I can’t breathe.”
The assignment was given in a Cooper Junior High social studies class, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where students were learning about the Bill of Rights.
Wylie Independent School District, of which Cooper Junior High is a part, said the assignment was not authorized by any of the district’s officials, meaning it was not part of the official curriculum.
Wylie resident Amber Jennings told the Star-Telegram that the class assignment was disturbing, especially since its recipients are 13- and 14-year-old students.
“Don’t indoctrinate our children to think this way,” Jennings said.
It’s unclear who the teacher was that handed out this assignment, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called on the school district to fire the person in question immediately.
A teacher in a Texas public school comparing police officers to the KKK is beyond unacceptable.
It’s the opposite of what must be taught.
The teacher should be fired.
I’m asking the Texas Education Agency to investigate and take action. https://t.co/DsCdp4fFaB
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 23, 2020
