Lutheran Wauwatosa school apologizes for slavery classwork deemed as insensitive, offensive

WAUWATOSA - Our Redeemer Lutheran Church and School administrators are apologizing for a fourth-grade homework assignment that asked pupils to write "3 'good' reasons for slavery and 3 bad reasons."

The assignment was posted Jan. 9 on Facebook by Trameka Brown-Berry, the outraged mother of Redeemer fourth-grader Jerome Berry. She asked if others found the assignment offensive.

The post set off a cry from Facebook respondents and a community leader that the assignment was insensitive and offensive.

School administrator Jim Van Dellen said in a Jan. 10 telephone interview the homework was an "unintentionally, poorly worded assignment" and school administrators are "in active conversations with parents."

Apologies sent

The school, 10025 W. North Ave., sent letters of apology to the families of its 240 students through email. The K-8 school does not use state vouchers, Van Dellen said.

Brown-Berry in a later post said Van Dellen promptly addressed her concerns and apologized right away.

H. Nelson Goodson, administrator of Hispanic News Network U.S.A., was one of the people who was alarmed when reading it on Facebook. He questioned during a telephone interview why a teacher would pose such a question to young learners.

"It was very insensitive for the teacher to do that," Goodson said. "The bigotry and anti-diversity feelings in this country lead people to believe it's OK to act like that.

The right thing

Goodson said Brown-Berry did "the right thing" in posting the homework assignment.

Jerome Berry wrote in his homework, "I feel there is no good reason for slavery."

Van Dellen and Andrew Steinke, principal senior pastor, responded in a letter:

"On behalf of Our Redeemer Lutheran School, we sincerely apologize for the fact that an assignment given to a fourth-grade class yesterday was not clearly explained to students and their parents.

"The result was a strong call to action to address the situation. We understand that, as presented, the words used showed a lack of sensitivity and were offensive.The purpose of the assignment was not, in any way, to have students argue that ANY slavery is acceptable — a concept that goes against our core values and beliefs about the equality and worth of people of all races.

"We are committed to instilling those values in our students and are very sorry that the assignment as presented was contrary to our values and teachings.

Sensitive subjects

"We appreciate the parents who brought this issue to our attention and are working with them. Moving forward, Our Redeemer will redouble our efforts to anticipate and communicate with parents prior to sensitive subjects being discussed in class.

"This particular assignment is no longer a part of our curriculum and we are committed to working with our families and our teachers regarding this sensitive issue."

Brown-Berry said of the incident: "Out of a very negative situation, we were able to take to resolve this issue. That is so beautiful, thank you."