A preschool in Florida has come under fire following an alleged controversial classroom activity, NBC News reported Wednesday.
The preschool allegedly had a 2-year-old Black girl role-play as Rosa Parks Dec. 1, according to NBC News. The alleged incident took place during a lesson about the civil rights icon, who famously refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 1955, a Building Brains Academy spokesperson said, the outlet reported. The young girl, reportedly the only black student in her class, was allegedly cast as Parks in a re-enactment.
Photos provided by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) allegedly depict a peer pretending to fingerprint the girl with paint and holding her hands behind her back, imitating an arrest, NBC News reported. These images, reportedly shared with the class’s parents, have sparked outrage from the NAACP and the child’s parents.
“Rosa Parks was a woman that we would teach our daughter to look up to, but now our memory is stained. This is something we’ll have to grow around and see how we can tell her this story differently,” the girl’s mother, who chose not to be identified, told the outlet.
NEW: The NAACP is calling for an investigation after a white child was photographed handcuffing and fingerprinting a 2-year old black girl for a Rosa Parks reenactment at a Florida preschool.
The parents say their daughter is the only black child in the school.
“The look on her… pic.twitter.com/wIzmp3amu8
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 20, 2023
The girl’s parents removed their daughter from the school shortly after viewing the images, the outlet reported. Communication between the parents and the school on the day of the alleged incident reportedly ended without an apology. However, a spokesperson for Building Brains Academy reportedly denied any initial refusal to apologize. (RELATED: NAACP President Ignores Stats On Florida When Confronted By CNN Host)
In response to the incident, the parents turned to the NAACP, which condemned the activity in a letter to the school.
“We consider the activity an inappropriate trivialization of a significant historical event, insensitive to the struggles against segregation, and psychologically harmful to all students involved, especially Black students reenacting such a traumatic moment in American history,” the NAACP wrote in a letter to the school, according to NBC News.
“The photos of the class activity do not offer a complete or accurate representation of the full lesson about the importance of equal rights,” Paola Rosado, owner and founder of the school, replied in a letter sent to the NAACP, the outlet reported
The NAACP alleged handcuffs were used on the girl in the alleged incident. The school denied the allegation, stating no restraints were employed. Regardless, the NAACP asserted the “emotional trauma” caused by the alleged incident was “egregious,” according to the outlet.