TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Nov 6, 2020

A Nashville family has filed a federal lawsuit against Metro Nashville Public Schools and an elementary school teacher over a controversial assignment taught earlier this year about keeping slaves under control. The assignment, called "Let's Make a Slave," was given to a fourth grade class in February and focused on how to control slaves, the Tennessean reports. The family claims that the “wild graphic and inappropriate” content caused physical and emotional harm to their child who is Black and has autism. The suit alleges that the child suffered repeated acts of racial harassment by adults and peers after the assignment. Chattanooga attorney Justin Gilbert is representing the family. He says the district should have done more to help kids impacted or traumatized by the experience. Last year, two Williamson County teachers resigned after giving a similar assignment that asked students to imagine their family owned slaves.