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In April
of 2011,
a
California
Republican
official
sent out
an
e-mail
picturing
President
Barack
Obama's
face on
the body
of a
baby
chimpanzee.
She
later
issued
an
apology.
Depicting
African-Americans
as
monkey
is a
longtime,
well-known
and
particularly
offensive
slur
because
it
denies
their
basic
humanity.
(NBC
Photo
Handout) |
| |
Birmingham,
Michigan
school
assignment
compares
President
Obama to
monkeys
TheGrio
Staff
thegrio.com
BIRMINGHAM,
MI - A
school
for
gifted
students
in
Birmingham,
Michigan,
has come
under
fire
after a
teacher
handed
out an
assignment
that
featured
pictures
of
primates
alongside
a photo
of
former
President
Barack
Obama.
The
educator
at the
Roeper
School —
which
describes
itself
on its
website
as “the
oldest
preschool
through
grade 12
school
for the
gifted
in the
nation”
— handed
out the
assignment
earlier
this
month in
a high
school
biology
class,
according
to Fox 2
in
Detroit.
Barack
Obama
thegrio,com
A
teacher
at a
school
in
Birmingham,
Michigan,
handed
out an
assignment
that
featured
pictures
of
primates
alongside
a photo
of
former
President
Barack
Obama.
(Photo
by
Jessica
McGowan/Getty
Images)
The
worksheet
asked
students
to look
through
the
images
of
various
animals
and
select
the ones
that
were
primates.
One of
those
options
was
Obama,
according
to
images
circulating
on
social
media.
The
Roeper
School
released
a
statement
to Fox 2
on
Tuesday
saying
it was
aware of
the
assignment
and was
currently
reviewing
its
circumstances.
The
station
said it
had
obtained
a letter
that was
sent to
parents
in which
the
school
claimed
the
worksheet
was
taken
from a
university
website
and
acknowledged
that it
was
racially
offensive
and
harmful.
Some
social
media
users
have
called
out
officials
at the
Roeper
School,
saying
the
teacher
must
have
known
what was
going
on.
“There’s
not
noticing
a typo,
and then
there’s
not
noticing
Barack
Obama’s
face
next to
a bunch
of
monkeys,”
said one
user.
“The
teacher
knew.”
The
school
reportedly
declined
to
provide
further
information
to
protect
the
privacy
of its
community
members,
per Fox
2. It is
offering
counseling
services
to
students
and said
it will
continue
to
provide
staff
training
aimed at
combating
racial
biases
on
campus,
according
to the
outlet.
White
mom
suing
school
over
anti-racism
curriculum
after
Black
son
refuses
to do
chores
The
Roeper
School,
with
tuition
costs of
around
$30,000
a year,
says on
its
website
that 31%
of
faculty
and
students
are
people
of
color.
A
diversity
statement
on the
school’s
online
homepage
reads:
“Justice
requires
that we
respect
the
dignity
and
worth of
every
individual
by
providing
equality
of
opportunity
for
those to
whom
opportunities
have
been
historically
denied.
At
Roeper,
we
believe
that our
cooperative
community
respects
and
embraces
diversity
thereby
emphasizing
the
relationship
between
the
individual
and the
community.”
Advertise With Us:
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