Teacher Removed After Proposing 7th Graders Write Paper Defending Ku Klux Klan

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee charter school teacher has reportedly been removed from her classroom after she gave her seventh-grade students a persuasive writing assignment to defend the Ku Klux Klan.

According to a WTMJ report, a teacher at the Business and Economics Academy of Milwaukee told students they would watch the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird," write a research paper on the history of the Ku Klux Klan, and defend Klan members who appeared on trial in the film.

There are 748 students are enrolled at the Business and Economics Academy of Milwaukee, and 97 percent of those students are African-American. The teacher is also African-American.

According to a letter obtained by WTMJ 4, the teacher's letter stated, "This paper will be a persuasive paper defending Klan members on trial. The research is being done leading into Black History Month 2017. The goal of this paper is not to teach the students the Klan was correct in their behavior, but rather to teach the students to write persuasively."

The proposed assignment in question was withdrawn by the school and the teacher was removed from the classroom after a concerned parent brought the issue to school officials - and later to local media via TMJ4.

A statement issued by BEAM officials on Dec. 19 notified the public about the ongoing incident.

"To the best of our knowledge there was no malicious intent involved," BEAM officials wrote in their statement. "BEAM feels that the objective of teaching students how to write persuasively is important. However, we feel that the choice of topic is inappropriate for a 7th grade class. A new topic will be selected for the assignment," they added.

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