Leander ISD Homework Assignment On Slavery Provokes Outrage

Leander, TX — The parents of a black 12-year-old Four Points Middle School student have complained about their child's recent homework assignment on the Civil War requiring, in part, for her to draw herself as a slave.

The child's mother, Tonya Jennings, told Spectrum News how stunned she was to see the unusual directive as part of a 16-page homework assignment. Leafing through the multi-page assignment, Jennings said nothing seemed amiss until she turned to the last page titled "Making Sense with Senses," that asked the 7th grade class to depict themselves as slaves with an illustration.

"Immediately, I felt disgusted by the question," Jennings told the news station. "Just to have her even think to do something like this is a problem. Then it says to color the picture. I thought about how she is only one of two African Americans in the class."

Leander ISD officials declined to appear on camera to be interviewed by Spectrum News. However, district spokesman Corey Ryan issued a prepared statement that was unapologetic in tone. Instead, the statement refers concerned parents to the section of the Texas Education Agency website referencing teaching guidelines he posited as justification for the homework assignment.

"When teaching sensitive content, we strive to deliver lessons with care and context to our students," Ryan wrote. "The tragic impacts of slavery are well-documented and relevant to our state and nation's history. The state curriculum for 7th-grade history expects students to explain reasons for Texas' involvement in the Civil War, including states' rights, slavery, sectionalism and tariffs."

In his prepared statement, Ryan doesn't address the education value that might be derived from having children draw themselves as slaves or how that depiction might advance a child's understanding of human bondage. Ryan cited the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website to find section 113-19 addressing 7th-grade social studies, subsections 5 and 21, where directives to apply such lessons are purportedly outlined.

Jennings suggested the district's officials response showcased a cultural tone deafness: "Looking at this, it screams 'We don't understand how this is a problem, and we don't understand how slavery was a horrific time and not something to be taken lightly.' "

According to figures compiled by Texas Tribune detailing Leander ISD demographics during the 2016-17 academic year, only 3.7 percent of the 38,130 Leander ISD students are black (1,429 students total). The vast majority of students enrolled at Leander ISD schools —59.6 percent or 22,717 students — are white.

The racial makeup of the district's teachers closely mirrors those demographics. Of the 2,528 teachers, 49 (2 percent) are black while 2,113 (83.6 percent) are white.

Citywide population figures also reflect such racial disparities. Located some 26 miles north of Austin, the city of Leander has a population of 37,889 as of a 2016 census estimate with an overwhelmingly white population: 86.2 percent white and just .92 percent black. Residents identifying themselves as Hispanics or Latinos comprise 15.94 percent of the city's population.

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