Teacher Told Sixth Grade Students To Make ‘Colorful’ Nazi Mascot

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By Ari Feldman October 13, 2017

A Georgia middle school teacher is under investigation after she tasked her students with creating a “colorful” mascot for a Nazi rally in 1935, the Atlanta Jewish Times reported. An official from the school says the assignment was an attempt to fulfill the state curriculum requirement that students learn about Nazi propaganda.

“The year is 1935 and you have been tasked with creating a mascot to represent the Nazi party at its political rallies,” the assignment read. “You will create a COLORFUL illustration of the mascot. Give the mascot a NAME. You will also write an explanation as to why the mascot was chosen to represent the Nazi party.”

The school official called the assignment “a teachable moment” and “not appropriate.”

“When you think about a mascot for something, you think it’s a good thing—mascot for your college, mascot for your high school,” Richard Rose, the president of Atlanta’s NAACP chapter, told a local news station. “This is nothing to celebrate.”

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

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