California mom's civil rights lawsuit alleges 'social justice teacher' forced students to pick cotton
The California mom's daughter experienced 'extreme emotional distress' as a result of a 'Cotton Picking Project,' the lawsuit allegations said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A mom sued the Los Angeles Unified School District in California last week after her daughter told her that a "social justice teacher… required students to ‘pick cotton’" as an educational tool about slavery, according to court documents.
In Oct. 2017, a mom named Rashunda Pitts became "bewildered" and "completely incensed" when she observed a "cotton field" at the Laurel Span School, court documents said.
Before Pitts discovered what the lawsuit called the "Cotton Picking Project" at the school, she noticed that her daughter's mood changed. Her daughter then experienced "extreme emotional distress," including anxiety and depression, when she thinks about the project, the lawsuit said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A mom sued a Los Angeles school district for allegedly violating her civil rights. (iStock)
The mom said her daughter told her that other students were told to "pick cotton," and the lawsuit alleged the district violated her daughter's civil rights.
The lawsuit alleged there was a ‘Cotton Picking Project’ at a school in Los Angeles Unified School District. (iStock)
Upon discovering the "Cotton Picking Project," the mom spoke with the assistant principal Brian Wisniewski, who said that the "cotton field was planted so that the students could have a ‘real life experience’ of what is was like to be a slave by ‘picking cotton,'" court documents alleged.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News Digital reached out to the California district for comment, and they said, "Los Angeles Unified does not typically comment on pending or ongoing litigation."
The district previously said in a statement after local media covered the story in that the "Cotton Picking Project" was "an instructional activity in the garden at Laurel School was construed as culturally insensitive," according to the lawsuit.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Los Angeles Unified School District said they do not comment on ongoing litigation in a statement to Fox News Digital. (iStock)
"Tending to the garden where a variety of fruits, vegetables and other plants grow is a school-wide tradition that has been in place for years and has never been used as a tool to re-enact historical events," the statement said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"When school administrators became aware of a parent’s concern about the cotton plant, they responded immediately by removing the plant."