Virginia School District Apologizes After Elementary Students Asked to Role-Play as Slaves, Landowners

The Fairfax County Public Schools building in Merrifield, Va., on March 4, 2019. Matthew Barakat/AP Photo

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.—Parents of fifth-grade students at a school in Fairfax County, Virginia, learned on Jan. 12 that their children were asked to role-play as slaves and landowners during a classroom activity.

“This activity was inappropriate and not part of our approved division curriculum,” wrote Josh Douds, principal of the Centreville Elementary School. “During the activity, students participated in a simulation where they acted as slaves and a landowner.”