TOMS RIVER, N.J. — A New Jersey school district is investigating a teacher’s history lesson that had students pretend to be slaves, officials said.
According to social media posts by a student in the class, 8th-grade social studies teacher Lawrence Cuneo forced Toms River Intermediate School students to act as if they were picking cotton and lay on a dirty floor while pretending to be slaves, The Asbury Park Press reported Tuesday.
The student also said in the posts that Cuneo made the noise of a cracking whip over them and kicked at students’ feet.
The Toms River teacher spoke to 101.5 about the slavery lesson and apologized if the lesson "harmed the sensitivities of any student." https://t.co/XHDfrS9PQM
— Mike Davis (@byMikeDavis) February 13, 2020
The Asbury Park Press received screenshots of the Instagram posts by the student’s mother. She did not return requests seeking comment from the newspaper.
A spokesman for Toms River Regional School District said the district is investigating what happened.
Cuneo, who is also in his third term as mayor of the small town of Pine Beach, told a radio station Thursday that he was demonstrating a “degrading and despicable” institution in American history when he told students to pretend to be slaves.
Cuneo apologized on the air but said the lessons learned from slavery must be shared and taught.
“At no time was my intention to harm the sensitivities of any student,” Cueno said on the radio, “If this lesson did that, I apologize to those affected.”
District spokesman Michael Kenny said that as the investigation moves forward, “We are keeping in mind that our curriculum has evolved to include more hands-on, authentic activities.” He added that it seems initially clear that Cuneo had no ill intent, but should have used better judgement.
Cuneo did not return calls from the Asbury Park Press seeking comment Tuesday.
Teachers’ methods for teaching about slavery have come into question several times in recent years.
