Loudoun Co. teacher under fire for having high schoolers handle cotton during history lesson

Gaby Arancibia | gaby.arancibia@wtop.com
December 13, 2024, 4:54 PM

A Loudoun County, Virginia, teacher has come under fire after having students handle a raw piece of cotton during a history lesson that touched on the invention of the cotton gin and slavery.

The history lesson took place on Dec. 5 at Riverside High School in Leesburg. … As part of a discussion on cotton, the teacher passed a sample of raw cotton among the students, some of whom became upset.

In a letter sent to parents Friday, Principal Doug Anderson said “lessons of this nature may cause students to feel any number of emotions,” adding “some students in the class may have used the situation as a way to act in an insensitive manner.”

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School division leaders said they intend to work with any students who were impacted by the history lesson and provide support.

VIRGINIA
Loudoun County history lesson involving cotton ‘humiliated' Black students

The lesson at Riverside High School involved a discussion surrounding cotton, the invention of the cotton gin and enslavement, Loudoun County Public Schools said

By Aimee Cho, News4 Reporter • Published December 12, 2024 • Updated on December 12, 2024 at 6:16 pm

Some families in Loudoun County, Virginia, are outraged after a high school history class in which the teacher told the students to pass around cotton. … The lesson last Thursday at Riverside High School involved a discussion surrounding cotton, the invention of the cotton gin and enslavement. As part of the discussion, the teacher passed around a piece of raw cotton," a spokesperson for Loudoun County Public Schools said in a statement to News4.

Loudoun County NAACP President Pastor Michelle Thomas said she received a complaint from a Black student in the class after the lesson at the Leesburg school last Thursday. … "Black students were extremely embarrassed and humiliated. In some sections of the class, we had students that were actually laughing and making jokes," she said.

"The lesson was upsetting to some students. This is contrary to what we believe the teacher - and LCPS - strive to accomplish in our classrooms," LCPS said in its statement. "It is the division’s intention to achieve a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. That is not what happened here and we must and will do better."

Thomas said she hopes teachers understand the hurtful connotations of cotton to students of color. … "The fact that teachers have cotton on hand to be used as demonstration, that is problematic, especially when they’re teaching advanced classes," she said.

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