As any parent knows, doing homework can be stressful at the best of times, downright chaotic at the worst.
But this piece of homework certainly tops all those long division arguments.
Trameka Brown-Berry was shocked and appalled to realise that her son's homework included asking the 9-year-old to write down three "good reasons" for slavery.
His mother took a picture of the sheet and shared it on Facebook, asking:
"Does anyone else find my 4th grader's homework offensive?"
"It's highly offensive and insensitive. I was in shock. I couldn't believe they sent something like that home," Brown-Berry told local sources.
"Not only was my son in an awful position, but the students who weren't black -- that's what keeps racism going," she continued.
The school's principle issued a letter of apology to parents, saying that "the purpose of the assignment was not, in any way, to have students argue that slavery is acceptable", but to encourage debate.
Little Jerome, however, answered the controversial assignment like a boss, writing; "I feel like there is no good reason for slavery, that's why I did not write."
Brown-Berry has since updated the situation on Facebook, saying that she has requested apologies from the staff involved and encouraging them to implement precautions so that this kind of thing will not happen again:
The moral of the story, she concludes, is that social change comes from the individual, and from parents setting good examples for their children:
"The moral of the story is, the only way to teach our kids to stand up for their rights and respect is to model it.
With all of your support I was able to give my child a personal life lesson about how change starts with you."
