Rock Hill parents are now outraged after the school made elementary students pick cotton and sing old slave songs as part of a ‘great depression history lesson’.
A teacher sent in a video to FOX 46 showing the kids picking the cotton and placing in in sacks while being instructed to sing songs with lyrics including; “I like it when you fill the sack. I like it when you don’t talk back. Make money for me.”
FOX 46’s Matt Grant posted the video on Twitter earlier this week;
A South Carolina mom is outraged after her son & classmates told to pick cotton/sing: “I like it when you fill the sack, I like it when you don’t talk back, make money for me.” Unique learning experience for Black History Month or history lesson gone too far? Wed. 10pm @FOX46News pic.twitter.com/Sh5Wmu0fVc
— Matt Grant (@MattGrantFOX46) February 20, 2019
According to FOX, The parents of all the students on the trip were required to sign a permission slip that only mentioned the trip being a “history lesson on the great depression” – it did not mention slavery or cotton picking.
In a statement, Mychal Frost with the Rock Hill School District defended the trip by saying:
“The Carroll School field experience is a unique learning opportunity for all 5th-grade students in Rock Hill Schools’ elementary schools. As one of the only remaining Rosenwald Schools in operation, the school exists to promote understanding about our past, specifically the Great Depression and schooling in America. The students are afforded an opportunity to learn directly from two local men, one of whom is a former student of The Carroll School, who lead students through a variety of hands-on activities and experiences. As part of the fifth-grade curriculum, students study the Great Depression time period, and this field trip helps students make real-life connections to the era in American history.”
Matt Grant tried to interview the Rock Hill School District spokesman, but was shot down after only asking a few questions;
The spokesman for Rock Hill Schools shut down my interview today. I asked why students, who were told to pick cotton and sing in a field as part of a lesson on the Great Depression, were not told that is something slaves did – the district spokesman said I was going “off script.” pic.twitter.com/A4oqohwaAM
— Matt Grant (@MattGrantFOX46) February 20, 2019
What are your thoughts on the trip?
