Black student forced to participate in slavery reenactment

A 12-year-old black Connecticut student was forced to participate in a slavery reenactment on a school trip, according to her parents Sandra and James Baker. The incident happened at Nature's Classroom in Charlton, Massachusetts, which runs educational programs and sets the academic curriculum for the field trips.

The student was with her class from Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy on the four-day trip. During the reenactment, students were told to pretend they were on a slave ship, pick cotton, and act as though their instructors were their masters. The Bakers' daughter was called the "N" word and told that she was property. She was also threatened to be whipped, have her Achilles cut, or hanged if she ran away.

The field trip happened last year. Her parents removed her from the school and have filed complaints with the school district, the Connecticut Department of Education, and civil and human rights groups. They are now taking up the case with the school board: