COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Richland School District One parent is raising concerns after her 4th grader had an assignment to write a journal entry as if she was a pre-Civil War slave or slave owner.
"How do you tell your 9-year-old how to answer something like that," Ursula Harris said.
Like many parents, Ursula Harris was helping her daughter with her e-learning assignments at home now that schools have been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harris said she was shocked at the assignment her daughter, who is a 4th grader at Bradley Elementary School, was given.
"When she saw it, she was like 'mama, they asked me if I was a slave,' and I was like, let me read this again," Harris said. "I had to read it multiple times to really grasp what I was reading.”
The assignment in question asked students to choose to be a slave or slave owner, and then to write a journal entry that describes daily activities before the Civil War.
Harris shared the assignment on her Facebook page.
"My concern is how in the world did Richland One allow that to get out in the public, just present this to the students, period," Harris said. "I’m all for teaching our history, but it is like a slap in the face to ask a colored child what you would do as a daily activity if you was a slave or slave owner."
Now, Harris wants something to be done.
"How do we move forward from this? Because this don’t need to happen again," Harris said. "I never want her to put that in her mindset to think if she was a slave or slave owner, as if those were options. It’s 2020. That should not be a lesson at all."
News 19 reached out to Richland County School District One about the worksheet given to students, and they sent the following statement:
"In very quickly pulling together learning activities for students to complete at home, the sample lesson activity on slavery was inadvertently included in the fourth grade social studies learning packet. When it was brought to our attention back in March, it was addressed at that time. The activity was inappropriate and should not have been included. Students should not complete the activity, and their grade will not be impacted by leaving the activity blank or removing it completely from the packet. We regret that this occurred and apologize for any offense taken by any of our students and parents."