(Charlotte-NC) During a lesson on the Civil War at the historic Latta Plantation, a tour guide caused controversy when he selected black students from the Rea View Elementary school, there on a class trip, to be slaves in front of their white classmates, having the black classmates role play slave tasks such as picking cotton.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Kojo Nantambu expressed the sentiment over the action.
"There is a lingering sense of inhumanity since slavery. Because that's still there, you want to be more sensitive than historically correct."
Historian Ian Campbell, in retrospect, agreed his "lesson" may not have been correct. "I'm going to start asking for volunteers instead of calling people. I think that would make it a lot easier if someone is afraid of public speaking or getting up in front of peers it wouldn't embarrass them."
Mr. Campbell seems to have realized both the error of his ways and that the major crime of slavery was embarrassing people by making them speak in public.
