Teacher suspended after student dresses as KKK leader for class assignment

PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT/Gray News) - A middle school teacher in southern Kentucky has been suspended while a controversial assignment is being investigated.

It comes after a video came to light of a student dressed in a Ku Klux Klan costume on a school bus.

Pulaski County Superintendent Patrick Richardson said the video stemmed from an assignment with middle school students dressing up as historical figures.

One student wanted to dress up Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate army general and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The student was reportedly given permission by the teacher to dress as Forrest.

Whit Whitaker with the Lexington Fayette NAACP said this is the kind of thing that’s happening far too often all across the U.S.

“This is nothing new. This is stuff the country endorses. It has happened in Pittsburgh schools, happened in California, happened in Texas,” said Whitaker.

Richardson said he is disappointed and embarrassed by the incident. He said he hopes the school and community realize that this does not represent the character of students and staff at the middle school or the district as a whole.

A video seen circulating on social media wrongly identifies the teacher at the center of this controversy, according to Richardson. He said the teacher wrongly identified is completely innocent in the matter and needs to be treated as much.

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