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Judge: Black History Month assignment doesn’t violate rights

Judge said parents who filed the lawsuit failed to show evidence of civil rights violation

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Three yellow school buses are parked in front of a brick school building.
School buses are parked in front of Patrick Marsh Middle School on Friday, April 23, 2021, in Sun Prairie, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

A federal judge is siding with the Sun Prairie School District in a lawsuit filed by two Black parents who objected to their children’s middle school assignment that asked students how they would punish a slave in ancient Mesopotamia.

Dazrrea Ervins and Priscilla Jones claimed the assignment in February 2021 violated their civil rights as well as those of their children.

READ MORE: Attorney: Sun Prairie school district should fire teachers who asked 6th graders how they would ‘punish’ a slave

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The question was not part of the school district’s curriculum on ancient Mesopotamia.Three teachers came up with the assignment on their own.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson says the parents failed to show evidence that their civil rights or those of their children were violated by the assignment.

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