Utah elementary school cancels slavery reenactment after parent outrage

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A Utah elementary school has reportedly apologized to parents after encouraging students to pretend to be slaves and slaveholders for a history lesson activity. 

Last week, Mount Mahogany Elementary in Pleasant Grove sent fifth graders home with a permission slip allowing students to participate in a simulation of the Underground Railroad. 

According to Salt Lake City's KUTV, a concerned parent reported that her child was "highly recommended" by teachers to participate in the activity, where students would be chosen at random to play the roles of slave owner and slave.

Students line up to enter their respective classrooms during a kindergarten orientation at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy in Alexandria, VA on August 19, 2022. (Getty Images)

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The reenactment activity was supposed to happen on Monday. However, Mount Mahogany's school principal apologized to parents and canceled the event after parent backlash.

The Alpine School District said that the classroom slavery simulation was canceled in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

"US History, including the Civil War, is part of the 5th grade curriculum," the district said. "Lessons using simulations can be effective when utilized with appropriate topics and conditions. Teaching slavery using a simulation activity is a concern. After additional review, the proposed activity was canceled. It was determined that there are better ways to teach this topic rather than using a simulation activity."

Fox News Digital has also reached out to Mount Mahogany Elementary for comment.

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Cropped shot of university students sitting in class (istock)

Slavery simulation activities have sparked outrage at other schools around the nation. The principal of a Washington, D.C., school apologized in 2020 after Black fifth graders were asked to portray slaves for a Civil War assignment.

Other controversial classroom assignments have crept up across the country. In a controversial lesson at a Utah school last month, sixth-grade students were asked to eat insects as part of an English assignment on climate change. A parent who spoke with Fox News Digital said teachers encouraged children to eat the bugs, claiming it was "good for the environment." 

Parents of students at an Oregon high school, meanwhile, were furious last month after students were told to write a short story about a "sexual fantasy."