Teacher lets students wear Klan outfits

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A history teacher in Dahlonega was placed on administrative leave Monday after she let four students wear Ku Klux Klan outfits in a historical reenactment.

"We determined, obviously, that she used extremely poor judgment," Lumpkin County Schools superintendent Dewey Moye told the AJC.

Catherine Ariemma, a 5-year veteran with the school system, teaches an advanced placement history class. Her students were filming reenactments of various historical periods, and four donned Klan outfits, Moye said.

Students from other classrooms saw them as they walked through a hallway Thursday while wearing the costumes to an outdoor shoot, he said. The parents of an African American child complained, Moye said."

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[yella_dawg]

1. "The other part of it is some people have jumped on it and said ‘you're racist.'"

I disagree. That's just ape-shit crazy. This person is obviously so incoherent that she can't rise to the level of racism.

[Kalyke]

2. While I can see how disturbing this would be, I have to ask why we're

protecting our children from history?

As a Southerner, most of the people I grew up with were exposed in some ways to the Klan and have disavowed their beliefs - because of that exposure.

Wouldn't the same be true in a re-enactment?

Again: I'm not condoning or supporting this teacher's choice. I frankly just want an discussion.

[WinkyDink]

7. A/P students should be beyond this middle-school "re-enactment" stuff.

[Kalyke]

9. Eh... no.

I was in A/P. My son will be in A/P (interviewed and accepted for middle school). "Dress up" doesn't mean playing Mommy and Daddy's clothes. Re-enactment helps the student "see" how people lived.

Now... I agree with the posts further down that allowing them out in the hallway without any historical context was the stupid move.

[aikoaiko]

3. clearly poor execution.

She probably should not have let the students wear the costumes in the hallway where no one could understand the context of the historical reenactment and educational lesson.

[Quantess]

11. OMG...pun not intended, I presume.

[aikoaiko]

12. no pun intended.

:hi:

[Ozymanithrax]

4. As an "historical reenactment" they are appropriate...

Allowing children to wear them in the halls is a monumental stupid move.

[Mimosa]

5. How did previous generations learn history without costumes?

How did previous generations learn history without dressing up and 're-enacting'?

Did the dumb teacher want to play 'movie director'? We seriously have a problem with the quality of teachers in today's schools.

[renate]

6. I feel sad for the teacher

Students are presumably allowed to see movies and pictures in textbooks in which people are wearing KKK outfits. Pretending the Klan didn't exist would be doing her students a disservice, and if people wore costumes representing other historical figures I don't see what she did wrong with allowing some of the kids to dress up in KKK robes. She was teaching history, not endorsing their views. Sheesh.

[WinkyDink]

8. It's the "costumes" part that is silly for high school. Sorry.

[Quantess]

10. Teacher probably meant well.

I feel bad for her.