Preschool in Florida Faces Backlash for “Racially Unethical” Rosa Parks Role Play
A preschool in Florida is under fire after a 2-year-old Black girl was allegedly made to participate in a “racially unethical” re-enactment of Rosa Parks’ arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus. The incident, which occurred at Building Brains Academy in Osceola, has sparked outrage from the NAACP.
The preschool, which is minority-owned and operated, defended the activity as a part of the children’s lesson about Parks, the civil rights activist. However, the parents of the young girl were horrified after seeing images of their daughter being “fingerprinted” by a peer during the re-enactment and immediately pulled her out of the school. They then reached out to the NAACP, which condemned the activity as a trivialization of a significant historical event and harmful to the students, especially the Black student participating.
Photos of the re-enactment, which were shared with parents, sparked a swift response from the NAACP, leading to allegations that the girl was handcuffed and fingerprinted by a white peer. However, the preschool’s spokesperson clarified that the peer involved was not white and that no restraints were actually used.
In response to the criticism, the preschool issued an apology to parents and communicated their regrets to the NAACP, acknowledging that the role play was not a part of the school’s regular curriculum. The owner and founder of Building Brains Academy, Paola Rosado, emphasized the school’s commitment to equality and diversity in a letter to the NAACP and stated that the teacher involved now understands why the incident should not have happened.
Moving forward, the preschool has implemented a new policy requiring faculty to get any deviations from the approved curriculum approved by the school administration to prevent similar incidents in the future. Additionally, they have welcomed recommendations from the NAACP on curriculum to consider for inclusion.
The NAACP Florida State Conference and the NAACP Center for Education Innovation and Research issued a joint press release, stating that the incident reflects a “broader issue of mishandling and suppressing Black history education in Florida.” The organization has called for improved education around Black history and for schools to be more sensitive in their approach to teaching about significant historical events.
Natalie Kainz, a news associate for NBC News, reported this story. Juliette Arcodia also contributed.