At a time when school districts are sanitizing the lessons teachers share, it’s important educators hold on to the truth of history. In delivering these truths, however, teachers still need to walk the line of being honest without offending. In the wrong hands, a lesson can degrade or further dehumanize marginalized groups both past and present.
Parents in Rockdale County, Georgia, believed their child’s teacher crossed that line. It happened during a lesson meant to teach students about the realities of segregation and integration.
One parent took her concerns to the school board meeting.
Nikisha, a parent at Honey Creek Elementary School, is not pleased with the way a recent history lesson was presented to her child. During a recent school board meeting, she shared that her child’s teacher placed “white only” and “colored only” signs above the water fountain in the cafeteria. “This is a highly concerning issue for myself and other parents,” Nikisha said during the meeting.
‘Someone had to approve of that,’ the child’s father stated.
Later, in an interview with Atlanta News First, Nikisha’s husband, Stephan, questioned how the lesson made it to the classroom. “You’re telling me that this was a lesson plan that you had in place, then someone had to approve of that? They had to review it and approve it,” Stephan asked.
In a letter to parents and guardians, Principal Adriene Lanier explained that the moment included a “social studies activity based on a historical figure in American history that was not approved,” per the news outlet.
The principal does not believe there was any ill intent.
The historical figure was Ruby Bridges, the first Black child to desegregate public schools in Louisiana back in the ’60s. Lanier’s letter didn’t specifically state which part of the lesson plan had violated guidelines. But it isn’t about Bridges herself.
The topic of Bridges is part of Georgia Social Studies Standards. Lanier wrote in her letter that although the school does not believe the teacher operated out of ill intent, “the activity was not included in the teacher’s submitted lesson plan and was not approved by school administrators.”
‘… the kids are traumatized,’ Nikisha said.
The school district has launched an investigation. “That is highly offensive, the way that it was delivered,” the mother said, per Atlanta News First. “I hope and pray that that is taken in high regard … because the kids are traumatized. Especially speaking firsthand, mine were. It’s sad that in 2025, we have to encounter things of this nature.”
The NAACP claims the signs reopen old wounds.
The parents are not the only ones who’ve taken issue. Two chapters of the NAACP have asked that the district “move swiftly and decisively” in its investigation, Atlanta News First reported. “The Georgia NAACP and The Rockdale County NAACP are appalled and heartbroken by the deeply disturbing incident at a Rockdale County school, where a water fountain was defaced with a sign reading ‘White Only,’ a statement from both chapters read. “This isn’t just an act of ignorance – it’s a chilling echo of our nation’s darkest chapters. It is a stark reminder that the legacy of segregation is not history for many – it is still a lived reality.”
The chapters called the signs an act of racial hostility, according to Atlanta News First. They claim they reopen “wounds still felt by generations of Americans who have fought, and continue to fight, for equality and dignity.”
