An Albany High School teacher raised eyebrows and a flurry of complaints when an assignment required students to write from the perspective of the Nazis, New York Magazine reports.
Students were tasked with writing an argument that Jews are evil.
“You must argue that Jews are evil, and use solid rationale from government propaganda to convince me of your loyalty to the Third Reich!” the assignment, posted on the Times Union website, reads.
The Albany newspaper reports that one-third of students boycotted the assignment, prompting Albany Superintendent Marguerite Vanden Wyngaard to apologize to families, adding, “I don’t believe there was malice or intent to cause any insensitivities to our families of Jewish faith.”
The superintendent blamed tougher Common Core standards that require “sophisticated” writing linking English composition to other subjects, like world history. But not all are buying it.
NYmag.com noted that the exercise could have concerned a wide array of topics, so the rhetorical exercise seemed especially tone deaf.
“The weird part, though, is that the assignment calls on the students, in making their cases, to draw upon a packet of Nazi propaganda, ‘what you’ve learned in history class,’ and ‘any experiences you have.’ With … Jews being evil?” the article reads.
Read more: huffingtonpost.com
