Page 21 - Florida Sentinel 3-15-19

National
NY School Holds Mock Slave Auction Selling Black Students To White Kids
After an apparent celebra- tion kicking off the return to 11 White History Months in a row, administrators at an ex- clusive private school in New York are scrambling to ex- plain reports that a teacher held a series of mock slave auctions in which white stu- dents bid on their black class- mates.
According to WPIX, Re- becca Antinozzi, a white fifth-grade social studies teacher at Chapel School in Bronxville, N.Y., reportedly organized a mock slave auc- tion where the teacher took the black students into the hall, put “imaginary chains” on their necks and wrists and shackled their ankles before parading them in front of their white classmates who posed as wealthy slave own- ers playing the original ver- sion of The Price Is Right’s showcase showdown.
And, apparently, this went so well the teacher tried the exercise again with another fifth-grade class, reports the Daily News. Through her lawyer, Antinozzi issued a statement explaining that it didn’t happen quite that way.
“The portrayal of the his- tory lesson that has been re- ported is inaccurate, out of context, contains false facts and ignores the overwhelm- ing support of Ms. Anti- nozzi from dozens of parents
Ms. Antinozzi teaches at Chapel School in Bronxville, N. Y.
at the school,” Antinozzi’s attorney said. “To the extent anyone took offense to a small portion of the overall lesson that day, it certainly was never intended.”
The only thing that could be gleaned from this non-de- nial denial is that there was definitely a slave auction. While I haven’t thought of the exact wording, if some- one wrongfully accused me of hosting a slave auction and subjecting children to the ir- reversible trauma of the worst kind of racism that ever existed on earth, part of my statement would definitely include the words “liers.”
Also, what exactly was the point of this role-playing ex- ercise? Was this teacher try- ing to show that slavery was
bad? Does she do this with every historical era? Will she take the white students’ lunch money when they get to the Great Depression? I imagine things will get very intense when the school’s basketball team suffers a string of losses during the chapters on segregation.
Meanwhile, the school says they are “investigating” the incident and has removed the teacher from the class- room, calling the chattel slav- ery cosplay “racially insensitive and hurtful,” WPIX reports. New York state Attorney General Leti- tia James said her office is monitoring this matter closely, which is something that no one apparently did to Antinozzi’s lesson plans.
White Man Filmed Harassing Black Passenger By Pretending To Be A Monkey
An unidentified white man acted like a monkey aboard the London Underground in a racist attack against a black passen- ger.
A shocking video shot on the London Underground shows a white man harassing a black passenger by making monkey noises and swinging from the subway poles.
The incident happened to Mohammed Dirir, CEO of tech start-up PalQeis, near the Tube’s Kennington station on Friday, according to the Evening Standard. In a clip recorded by Dirir, the sus- pect is seen brazenly climbing on seats and acting like a monkey while Dirir first ap- pears oblivious that the mock- ing is directed toward him. The man taunting Dirir is surrounded by five friends who do nothing to stop the at- tack — though some fellow passengers do come to Dirir’s defense.
Dirir told the Evening Standard that it wasn’t until he made eye contact with the passenger and saw him give a
thumbs-up sign that he real- ized he was the target of a racist attack. Dirir can be heard egging the man on so he can capture the abuse on video, saying, “Do that move again. Do that move. Monkey, pretending to be a monkey,” and “Do it for the ‘gram.”
“I asked him ‘are you good, mate?’ and as you can clearly see in the video he said to his friend ‘Oh, he’s dumb, he did- n’t get it,'” Dirir told the British publication. “As you can see in the video, [he was] really racist.”
At the end of the video, the perpetrator aggressively jumps toward the camera, which he appears to know is filming him.
Dirir later posted the video to Instagram, writing, “Racism is still alive, to all my people of color around the world stay strong! Let’s end this epidemic once & for all!”
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