I know we've all been disappointed by Kanye West.
But it turns out, he's not the only one
who doesn't seem to understand slavery in America.
A recent online survey found that only eight percent
of American high school seniors
could identify slavery as the central cause of the Civil War.
Yeah. And even worse,
ten percent say the winner of the Civil War
was Captain America.
That's scary.
And this seems like an insane statistic,
but when you see how some schools try
and teach slavery, you'll understand why.
A homework assignment given out this week at a charter school
in San Antonio has set off an uproar.
The students were instructed to make a list
of the negative and positive aspects of slavery.
REPORTER: This is the paper Robert Livar's eighth grade son
was given to fill out in history class.
You can see his son wrote "not applicable"
on the side labeled "positive aspects"
-and wrote a long list of negative aspects. -(applause)
Robert says there's no excuse for this assignment.
Okay, first of all, that kid gets an "A" for life.
-That was amazing. -(cheering and applause)
'Cause that-that assignment is horrible.
Like, that assignment is so bad,
it almost seems like a trap to find the racist kids in class.
Like, "Okay, kids, what were the positive aspects of slavery?"
"I know! Cheap labor!" "Trick question.
Go to detention, you little Grand Wizard!"
And it gets worse. It gets worse.
Because these insane lessons on slavery
have spread into other subjects somehow.
Gwinnett County parents are outraged tonight
over third grade math homework.
It referenced slaves picking fruit and violence.
REPORTER: One problem said, "Each tree had 56 oranges.
"If eight slaves picked them equally,
then how much would each slave pick?"
Then there was another. "If Frederick got two beatings
"per day, how many beatings did he get
-in one week?" -(gasping)
Okay, okay, first of all--
two beatings times seven-- that's 14 beatings.
But, secondly,
slavery is too serious
to just casually drop into math problems.
A-And, by the way, I'm not just worried
about how inappropriate those questions are.
I'm worried about how it's escalated.
Like, first, it's just picking oranges.
Next, it's beatings. You know?
If the next question starts out with,
"Eight men in white robes show up to Frederick's house,"
run!
So, look, obviously, these assignments
aren't treating slavery with the weight it deserves.
But it turns out some teachers go too far
in the opposite direction.
A Bronx teacher landing in hot water
for what she allegedly did to children
during an assignment on the slave trade.
REPORTER: She singled out black students,
told them to lie on the floor,
and stepped on their backs to show them
"how it is to be a slave.”
REPORTER 2: A controversial lesson about slavery
has been pulled from a Cerritos high school.
REPORTER 3: A mother complained recently
after getting this e-mail.
Staff would act as slave ship captains,
the e-mail described, and the children slaves.
They'd use masking tape to tie their wrists together,
make them lay on the ground,
and, in a dark room, have them watch a clip
from the film Roots.
What the (bleep), people?
Imagine how confusing that is for a child.
'Cause, on the one hand, getting tied up is terrifying.
On the other hand, getting to watch a movie in school
is sweet as hell.
Like, if you asked eight-year-old Trevor
to get an ass-whupping to watch Jurassic Park
in science class, I'm taking that beating.
It's not right. And you have to admit,
that lesson was historically accurate, I guess, you know?
Slave captains did tie up Africans,
load them on boats, and then had a movie night.
The Africans were like, "Move your chains.
"I can't see the screen. This is my favorite part, huh?
Nobody puts Baby in a corner. Ha-ha-ha-ha."
And, look, I know, I know some people say,
"Trevor, no, the-these teachers are just...
they're just trying to be creative in how they teach."
And I-I get that. I get that.
But here's my question:
how come teachers only seem to get creative like this
with slavery? Right?
It doesn't happen with any other historical subject.
Like, they-they're never like, "Hey, Connor,
"because you're Irish, I'm gonna take away your lunch
so you can learn about the Potato Famine."
They never say that.
And then, also, this thing of, like,
justifying bad things in-in history.
You know, you never hear of teachers asking kids
to write an essay on why the iceberg
was good for the Titanic
or asking for three reasons why those people deserved
to be eaten by Jeffrey Dahmer.
Like, all I'm saying is,
if you're gonna teach slavery that way, teach it all the way.
Or, at the very least, if you're gonna teach slavery this way,
end the lesson on a high note. You know?
If you tie the kids up and make them watch Roots,
then, afterwards, they get to watch Django Unchained
and whup the teacher's ass.