Wisconsin teacher under fire after Black Lives Matter lesson

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A teacher at a school near Kenosha, Wisconsin, the city in which Jacob Blake was shot in the back, teaches her students about Black Lives Matter.

Fourth-grade teacher Melissa Statz of Cooper Elementary School in Burlington, Wisconsin, decided to educate her students about BLM after learning they were curious about what happened to Blake.

This caused some parents to get upset, believing Statz, 30, is trying to indoctrinating their children, NBC reported.

Some parents even requested that the young teacher be fired.

Read More: Wisconsin teacher caught on camera yelling N-word in classroom

“I don’t think it’s bad to be talking about racial issues in school, but the whole political slant to it and biased information is what I oppose,” a white Burlington mother named Adrianne Melby, whose activities in local Facebook groups also includes an organized protest against pandemic-related restrictions, said.

The “indoctrinating” some residents are referring to is Statz’s usage of children’s books, an educational video by Brain Pop, and a worksheet that asks the questions “What is the Black Lives Matter Movement trying to do?” and “How Do We Stop Systemic Racism?”

The main union in higher education will debate how to "challenge the use of academic freedom arguments" on diversity issues, call on members to "fully support the BLM movement" & use industrial action when "decolonising of curriculum & institutions"https://t.co/rdvAog1Q1O

— Matt Goodwin (@GoodwinMJ) October 21, 2020

Burlington, a half-hour drive from Kenosha and a town with 11,000, is 89% white and supported President Donald Trump 2-to-1 over Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The teacher is deeply involved in politics, having attended protests and made a petition in June to add Black history and diverse perspectives into the school curriculum.

Read More: Texas teacher placed on leave for BLM and LGBTQ posters in virtual classroom

“Our kids are already experiencing racism,” Statz said. “Our Black and brown students are dealing with it on a daily basis. If they’re old enough to experience it, then the rest of them are old enough to learn about it.”

As theGrio previously reported, 29-year-old Blake got shot in the back by officers as he walked away from them. In the video, an officer is seen holding Blake’s shirt and then firing into the man’s back. 

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