A Monroe Middle School teacher was suspended after giving a lesson about black history, but has been reinstated. See below…
UPDATE AT 8:42 P.M. Sunday – The Monroe News has learned that Al Barron was reinstated Sunday evening. Details at this link.
EARLIER REPORT: Monroe Middle School teacher Alan Barron remains suspended only two weeks before he is set to retire after 36 years with the district while administrators investigate whether his teaching methods about black history were inappropriate.
Mr. Barron, 59, was placed on paid administrative leave almost two weeks ago after an assistant principal sat in on his history class while Mr. Barron was discussing the Jim Crow racial segregation laws. As part of the instruction, he showed a video of how white people back then used blackface to imitate African Americans during what they considered entertainment in the 1800s.
According to parents whose children are in the eighth- grade class, the administrator thought the lesson plan was offensive and racist. Mr. Barron was suspended the next day Adrienne Aaron’s husband is African American, and their child was in the class. She said Mr. Barron simply was showing the students what occurred in history. She said her daughter was not offended and felt the subject needs to be discussed.
“She was more offended that they stopped the video,” Mrs. Aaron said. “It had nothing to do with racism. History is history. We need to educate our kids to see how far we’ve come in America. How is that racism?”
Read more at: monroenews.com
