The Breakfast Club - DONKEY: Elementary School Assignment Instructs Students To Portray White Slave Masters

Episode Date: March 21, 2024

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show, Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle.

We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other. So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand-new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, The Story Pirates, and John Glickman,

Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Flash, slam, another one gone. Bash, bam, another one gone. The crack of the bat and another one gone. The tip of the cap, there's another one gone. Each episode is about a different, inspiring figure from history, like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama

who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. And it began with me. Did you know, did you know? I wouldn't give up my seat. Nine months before Rosa, it was Claudette Colvin. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records. Because in order to make history, you have to make some noise.

Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, 1974. George Foreman was champion of the world. Ali was smart and he was handsome. Story behind the Rumble in the Jungle is like a Hollywood movie. But that is only half the world. Ali was smart and he was handsome. The story behind The Rumble in the Jungle is like a Hollywood movie. But that is only half the story. There's also James Brown, Bill Withers,

B.B. King, Miriam Akiba. All the biggest black artists on the planet. Together in Africa. It was a big deal. Listen to Rumble, Ali, Foreman, and The Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey,

this is Justin Richmond, host of the broken record podcast. Every week I, or my cohost, Leah Rose, sit down with the artists you love to get unparalleled creative insight. Our new series is looking at one of the most influential jazz labels ever. Blue note records.

You'll hear from artists like legendary bassist Ron Carter, singer-songwriter Noah Jones, and guitarist Julian Lodge. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Your execution on the donkey of the day is something to behold. Is it a read? He gave me donkey of the Day and I deserve it. You need to know.

You need to tell them. I am. You have the voice. Tell them. It's time for Donkey of the Day. It's a read, but you're so good at it. You're trying to be a fake-ass Charlemagne. You're the only one Charlemagne to go.

Damn, Charlemagne. Who you give the Donkey of the Day to now? Well, Donkey of the Day for Thursday, March 21st, goes to an elementary school named Connemara Township. Connemara Township is in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and they recently had to apologize for an assignment brought home by a fifth-grade student last week. Would you like to hear what that assignment was?

Let's go to ABC7 News for the report, please. Connemara Township parents Kenneth and Sharon Poole tell us their daughter brought home an assignment last week instructing students to pretend to be a white master looking to buy a slave. So we got an assignment in our daughter's schoolwork folder. Basically, it was like a colored in worksheet that indicated that it was titled auctions, winnings to the Highest Bidder, and it was an assignment wherein the fifth graders were supposed to portray slave masters

and identify what qualifications they wanted in their slaves. The Pools say the assignment asked the students to draw and describe the living quarters, as well as various scenarios that would occur on a plantation. They say their daughter lost points when she wrote she would treat the slaves nicely. In a statement to 6 News, the superintendent of Connell Township Elementary School says the assignment was intended to help students to comprehend slavery but a different approach should have been taken. The couple says they're relieved to hear the assignment has been pulled from the

class and they hope that other schools can learn from this. Reporting Somerset County, Bailey Wojcik, 6 News. reminded that all white people aren't created equal equal okay but that reminder goes out the window when you think to yourself there was a fifth grade teacher out there who thought to themselves that it was okay to have an assignment where the fifth graders were supposed to portray slave masters and identify what qualifications they wanted in their slave also how many kids completed this assignment how many parents sat at home with their kids and when their kids said mommy daddy what qualifications should i want in the slave the parents helped them with it jesus can you imagine let's not get it twisted though many of the enslaved were skilled laborers and those skills were a vital part of the american

economy you have to think a lot of them arrived here with a wide range of traditional african crafts so you had something that did weaving wood carving pottery making you had somebody enslaved that was skilled in rice cultivation they had had, you know, many a skill. But the fact that a little fifth grader potentially could be sitting around a table discussing with his parents the qualifications they are looking for in a slave in 2024. Jesus. I wish it bothers even more that the pools that they contacted the teacher and principal. But they said that the school officials were initially unwilling to even remove the assignment or apologize. In fact, in a statement to 6 News, the superintendent of Kodomar Township School District says the assignment was intended to help students to comprehend slavery.

But a different approach should have been taken. Yeah. How about the approach to freedom? The approach to emancipation? There would never be an assignment in the school where someone said, hey, we wanted to help students comprehend the Holocaust. So we decided to do an assignment that taught students how to be Nazis. Huh? Wouldn't happen. Wouldn't be tolerated.

Teachers, superintendents, principal janitors, all the pencil sharpeners in the classroom would be gone if that happened. Not to mention, we're in an era where these kids might grow up and be canceled for an assignment they participated in when they was 10. And these kids don't know no better. Okay? And the adults clearly don't know any better okay you're just simply teaching white supremacy and why this is why the whole notion of waiting for races to die

isn't gonna work because I read a quote once and that quote is real it said white supremacy it's not a shark it is the water please Please give Connemara Township and Somerset, Pennsylvania the biggest e-haw. Now, today is National Co-Parenting Day. It is. And, you know, Jess, Jess Alaris' baby father, Rome. That's right.

Him and Jess have one of the best co-parenting situations I've ever seen. But it took a while to get there. It took a while for them to get there. Right. It took a while for them to get there. And. It took a while for them to get there. And so when we come back, they will be here.

That's right. To discuss how they co-parent. How it started, how they got to a place where they can co-parent in the best way. And we'll ask them a bunch of questions. That's right. We'll do that when we come back. So don't move. It's The Breakfast Club.

Good morning. The Breakfast Club. Donkey of the Day is sponsored by renowned personal injury attorney Michael the Bull Laminsoff. Don't be a donkey when you need a fighter on your side. If you're ever injured, go to MichaelTheBull.com. That's MichaelTheBull.com. And when you mess with the bull, you get the horns. Hey, what's up?

This is Ramses Jha. And I go by the name Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence. And we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace and social circle. We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other.

So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. Niminy here. I'm the host of a brand new history podcast for kids and families called Historical Records. Executive produced by Questlove, the Story Pirates, and John Glickman, Historical Records brings history to life through hip-hop. Each episode is about a different inspiring figure from history. Like this one about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl in Alabama who refused to give up her seat on the city bus nine whole months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. Check it. Get the kids in your life excited about history by tuning in to Historical Records because in order to make history, you have to make some noise. Listen to Historical Records on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez, was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story,

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And he was handsome. The story behind The Rumble in the Jungle is like a Hollywood movie. But that is only half the story. There's also James Brown, Bill Withers, B.B. King, Miriam Akiba. All the biggest black artists on the planet. Together in Africa. It was a big deal. Listen to Rumble, Ali, Foreman, and The Soul of 74 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Justin Richmond, host of the Broken Record Podcast. Every week, I or my co-host, Leah Rose, sit down with the artists you love to get unparalleled creative insight.

Our new series is looking at one of the most influential jazz labels ever, Blue Note Records. You'll hear from artists like legendary bassist Ron Carter, singer-songwriter Noah Jones, and guitarist Julian Lodge. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.