A Florida childcare center has admitted that a 2-year-old Black child was subject to a mock arrest by a white classmate as part of a lesson about Rosa Parks.
The NAACP has demanded an inquiry by the Florida Department of Children and Families into the incident at Osceola County’s Building Brains Academy, where it says that a white classmate handcuffed and fingerprinted a Black peer, according to Fox 35 News.
The toddler’s parents said they only became aware of the incident after receiving photos in the school’s app showing their daughter in a simulated arrest and booking process, which they found deeply distressing.
In an interview with WESH 2, the parents, who asked not to be named, said they believed their toddler was the only Black child in the class.
The school told FOX 35 News that the photographs did “not offer a complete or accurate representation of the full lesson about the importance of equal rights” but acknowledged the incident had happened, saying, “In the spirit of the moment, the class spontaneously decided to act out the elements of Ms. Parks’ story, including her arrest for refusing to give up her seat at the front of the bus.”
The parents of the Black toddler, who have since removed her from the facility, said: “There are so many ways to teach the Rosa Parks story.”
