Georgia Middle School teacher asks her student to draw a ‘Nazi mascot’
A teacher at Shiloh Middle School in Gwinnett County, Georgia, is being criticized for a homework assignment in which they asked students to draw a “Nazi mascot.”
photo/ twitter Fox 4 News
The assignment reads: The year is 1935 and you have been tasked with creating a mascot to represent the Nazi party at its political rallies. Think about all of the information that you have learned about Hitler and the Nazi party. You will create a COLORFUL illustration of the mascot. Give the mascot a NAME. You will also write an explanation as to why the mascot was chosen to represent the Nazi party.
During an interview with FOX5 Atlanta, Parent Jamie Brown attacked the idea, not simply for being ill-conceived, but because it could make certain people feel deeply uncomfortable: “I can only imagine the pain of other students the pain of other students that are of Jewish descent that you would be forced to draw something that is absolutely demeaning to not only you but an entire race of people and this nation for fear of getting and for a failing grade.”
Gwinnett County schools issued a statement, noting that during the study of history, teachers cover “the conflict and change in Europe, including the aftermath of World War I, the rise of communism as a result of the Russian Revolution, the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Nazism, and worldwide depression…Nazism, the use of propaganda, and events which resulted in the Holocaust,” but that this particular assignment was not approved, and “not appropriate.” The statement adds that “the school is addressing the use of this assignment with the teacher.”
The president of the NAACP Atlanta chapter said he couldn’t make sense of the assignment.
“When you think about a mascot for something, you think it’s a good thing — mascot for your college, mascot for your high school. This is nothing to celebrate,” he said.
