A Michigan school teacher has been suspended from her private school position after she used a photo of former President Barack Obama and images of animals for a lesson where she asked the class to “identify the primate.”
According to USA Today, the incident occurred at the Roeper School, which has campuses in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Birmingham, Michigan.
The teacher, whose identity has not been released to the public, asked the class, “Which of the following are primates.”
The worksheet, handed out by the teacher, featured several pictures of animals, including monkeys. Obama’s image was the only human included.
“On behalf of Roeper’s School’s leadership, we want to acknowledge the disturbing racial offense contained in an assignment with an upper school last week,” said the school in a statement.
Roeper’s Director of Diversity, Carolyn Lett, released a letter to the parents condemning the teacher’s behavior.
“The following morning, we were alerted that this went out, we discussed it ourselves and immediately spoke with the teacher,” she said. “This is not anything we’ve seen before and nothing we’re used to.”
“The choice to use this piece of curriculum was completely inconsistent with our School’s philosophy and mission and we sincerely apologize for its use and the harm it has caused,” the statement continued. “While the teacher has taken responsibility and admits the mistake of not properly vetting the resource, we know that is not enough and she has been placed on administrative leave until further notice.”
The school told the Detroit News that it would also be reviewing the curriculum and working on professional development for staff and faculty, focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion.
