February is Black History Month and a time when schoolchildren learn about the many important contributions African Americans have made to this country throughout U.S. history and their remarkable achievements, oftentimes in the face of adversity.
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, pilot Bessie Coleman, and engineer Elijah McCoy are just a handful of the many inspiring figures grade-school children can be taught about this month. But one teacher in Florida took it upon themselves to begin talking about Black History Month with toddlers...and it did not go well.
The "lesson" included putting 2-year-old kids in blackface, prompting at least one black mother to yank her kid from the school.
“What else are you teaching our children?” wondered Courtney Politis, who confronted the school director, Patricia Vitale about it.
Initially surprised by the reaction (she reportedly told the mother, “I’m sorry? … What’s racist?”), Vitale said teachers and staff will be given training to avoid that type of issue happening in the future.
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“We wanted to let all the parents know that we met on Friday afternoon with all the teachers and staff. We went over several ethical and multicultural education points. I will teach the team a class covering all the necessary topics regarding US history and multicultural education … you may rest assured this will never happen again,” Vitale told parents.
Politis said it should never have happened in the first place.
“You’re a certified, established institution, you should know better. I mean, ignorance on – about racism in 2023 is no longer ignorant, in my opinion,” she told CNN.
A mother in Miami says she was shocked and outraged after the staff at her children’s day care shared photos with parents of students in blackface as part of Black History Month. https://t.co/dW2LRZo3sD pic.twitter.com/LbqgxUviNG
— CNN (@CNN) February 15, 2023
