Virginia high school under fire after Black students ‘bullied’ during history lesson featuring raw cotton

Advocates said the choice of demonstration during a lesson about slavery and the invention of the cotton gin showed ‘poor taste and judgement’

Riverside High School in Virginia, where a lesson involving a piece of raw cotton caused controversy (Google Maps)

Parents have accused a Virginia high school of failing to protect Black students after a history lesson involving a piece of raw cotton allegedly led to bullying and harassment.

Officials at Riverside High School in Loudoun County, in the DC metro area, confirmed that a teacher had passed the cotton around during a lesson about slavery and the cotton industry last Thursday.

Michelle Thomas, a pastor and the president of the county’s NAACP chapter, said the problem was not just the cotton itself but more that the teacher failed to act on the behavior it prompted.

“The kids then [began] joking about Black people being enslaved, and it was just humiliating and deeply embarrassing for the kids,” Thomas told local broadcaster WUSA9.

The teacher's response to these remarks was “inappropriate” and amounted to “no response,” she added.

However, Thomas also said that teachers need to understand the disturbing connotations of cotton to Black students, saying it was “problematic” that a teacher would have the plant on hand.

“It was a poor demonstration. If she was going to demonstrate swastikas, she wouldn't bring in a sticker. I'm not bringing in the Klan hood; I'm not bringing in, you know, the robe of the Klansman,” she said.

“So the demonstration was of poor taste and judgement, and was culturally insensitive.”

In a statement, the Loudoun County school district said: “LCPS Administration is aware of a history lesson at Riverside High School which occurred last Thursday.

Riverside High School in Virginia, where a lesson involving a piece of raw cotton caused controversy (Google Maps)

“The lesson was in a US History class and 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.

“The lesson was upsetting to some students. This is contrary to what we believe the teacher – and LCPS – strive to accomplish in our classrooms. 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.”

The district also said it had failed to uphold its usual policy of informing parents in advance when lessons covering sensitive topics have been planned.

This is not the first time Loudoun County's schools have been criticized for racially insensitive activities in lessons about slavery.

In 2019, the principal of another school in the same district apologized after a Black student was chosen to play the role of a “runaway slave” in a history lesson.