Kids Write KKK-Themed Christmas Carol About ‘Killing Blacks’ For Homework
Image by Getty Images
Students in a New Hampshire high school sang a KKK-themed Christmas carol for what was supposedly a school assignment, The Portsmouth Herald reported.
Students in a 11th-grade American History class at Dover High School were instructed to write a song from what they learned from the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, Superintendent William Harbron confirmed to the Herald. A video of the song, which is no longer available, was posted over the weekend.
Two students chose to write about the Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacy group, and arranged it to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” according to the Herald, including the line, “Let’s kill all the blacks.” The video, about a minute long, elicited laughter from other students. The singing students reportedly did not know they were being recorded, Harbron said.
School and district administrators have been investigating the situation. Superintendent Harbron called it “an incident of extreme racial insensitivity.”
“While the incident was part of a classroom assignment dealing with the reconstruction period in American history, the impact was harmful,” he wrote.
Harbron and DHS Principal Peter Driscoll said Monday that they don’t believe there was malicious intent behind the song. Part of the review process will entail whether the instructor had to approve the song, as well as whether the assignment was even appropriate.
The school is also working with New Hampshire Listens, a civic engagement group at the University of New Hampshire, to talk to the class about the song and uncovering biases, according to Raw Story. Administrators plan to organize a larger discussion with the community.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
