Teacher in Texas punished for showing slavery film clip
FORT WORTH, Texas – An elementary school teacher was disciplined for showing her fifth-graders parts of the R-rated film “Amistad” during a lesson on slavery.
On Jan. 25, Larue Washington showed her Ridglea Hills Elementary class clips from the 1997 Steven Spielberg film depicting slaves en route to the Americas, including a scene in which a character was stabbed, district officials said.
Washington failed to follow school board policy requiring commercial movies to be reviewed and approved by the school principal, the district said.
The policy also prohibits showing any portions of an R-rated movie, and the principal would not have approved the film, district spokeswoman Barbara Griffith said.
