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East Lansing teacher reinstated after probe of slavery assignments
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EAST LANSING A MacDonald Middle School teacher returned to work Monday following an investigation into two assignments that drew criticism from parents.
East Lansing Public Schools concluded its investigation of Matt Christians, an eighth grade history teacher who assigned controversial assignments on slavery during Black History Month, Superintendent Dori Leyko confirmed.
Leyko sent an email to all eighth grade families Monday informing them of Christians return. She declined further comment due to scheduling conflicts.
Christians first came under fire earlier this year for assigning a worksheet that asked students to imagine themselves as enslaved people. Following public criticism of that assignment, a second assignment surfaced, from 2012, in which Christians asked students to argue for the positive aspects of slavery.
An eighth-grade history teacher is on leave after a 2012 assignment in which he asked students to write about the positive aspects of slavery surfaced.
A homework assignment on slavery drew sharp criticism after its graphic imagery distressed at least one Black family in East Lansing Public Schools.
Chelsea Wade said her daughter, an eighth grader at MacDonald Middle School, completed an assignment during Black History Month that presented violent images and descriptions of slaves, slave quarters and rebellions, then asked students to imagine themselves as enslaved people.
The assignment traumatized her daughter and the entire family, Wade said.
One exercise on the three-page worksheet showed students a photo of a slave rebellion in which a Black man is strangling a white man. It then asked: Imagine you were one of these enslaved persons. Describe what would bring you to the point of fighting back.