Black Girl Forced to Act as a Runaway Slave on a Field Trip
Black Students Were Allegedly Forced to Act as "Runaway Slaves" on a Class Field Trip, and Parents Are Livid
Bailey Peterson, a sixth grader at McKinley Junior High School, was so excited to go on her school field trip to Nature's Classroom Institute in Lake Geneva, WI. She explained that her class of 70 students was having a great time learning about nature and science until a Civil War-themed simulation took the kids by surprise on their last night there.
"I did have fun. It's just what happened that drove me away from being excited about it. They talked to us about how we were runaways, and how our cover story was that we were a singing choir from Georgia called The Peaches," Bailey told ABC News.
As soon as Dawn Peterson, Bailey's mom, got wind of the fact that even some of the teachers took part in the simulation, she decided to speak out about how problematic it is for young black students to have to act as runaway slaves. The two-hour long simulation included staff members who were dressed up as runaway slaves and abolitionists, as well as bounty hunters.
"[Bailey] was almost nervous to tell me that they felt funny about it because all of the kids were black and the teachers were white," said Dawn, noting that parents weren't made aware of the activity beforehand. " [I] couldn't find anything in any paperwork that stated consent. Not even letting us know there would be a simulation at all, let alone this particular simulation."
Dr. Jerry Jordan, the school district's superintendent, believes that the whole situation is a big misunderstanding as they've never received any complaints about the trip in the past. "There's a perception that we had the kids being chased by white folks at night through the woods. That's not what took place. It was a night hike."
He also explained that although this is a disturbing part of American history, students need to learn about it nonetheless. "It's part of history," he said. "A sad part of history that our people had to go through. And I think bringing something to light for the children, it helped them better understand what our foreparents went through."
