From Slave Ship to Freedom Road

The Detroit Free Press reports that, “A Macomb County family is suing its school district for discrimination over a classroom reading of a racial epithet in a book depicting slavery.”

According to the DFP, “a fifth-grade teacher at Margaret Black Elementary in the Warren Consolidated School District read to her class from From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, by Julius Lester. The selections included one of a slave auction, with derogatory but historical references to Africans, and one with the same epithet from a slave’s viewpoint.”

The article does not quote the offending language, but the family’s lawyer Scott Combs told the newspaper, “This is material not appropriate for a 15-year-old.”

According to the Detroit Free Press:

Officials said fifth-grade teachers and the principal discussed the book before the reading as part of their Black History Month curriculum. It is recommended for children ages 10-15. District spokesman Robert Freehan said the book was substituted for a preapproved one by the publisher without the district’s knowledge and steps have been taken to address that.

“It’s not historically misleading,” he said of the material.

From Slave Ship to Freedom Road is used in school curricula nationwide, and has been used before in the Oakland School District for fifth-grade social studies. Spokeswoman for the district, Shelley Rose, told the DFP that “none of the schools in the district uses the book now.”

The family is seeking damages in excess of $25,000 for violations of the Michigan Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. It protects individuals from race-based discrimination.