A teacher with 36 years in the classroom and plans to retire has been reinstated after being suspended for teaching a middle school history class about blackface and how it related to Jim Crow segregation laws.

According to the Monroe News, Alan Barron, who was scheduled to retire at the end of the school year , was under investigation after an assistant principal said his teaching methods were inappropriate.

As part of his lesson on racial segregation, Barron showed a video of how white people used blackface as entertainment in the 1800s through the 1930s.

According to the Daily Mail, the assistant principal said the video was inappropriate to show the eighth-graders.

The Daily Mail reported that due to the suspension, Barron was prevented from attending any school district functions, including a dinner to honor retiring teachers.

The Monroe News reports Barron is scheduled to be back in the classroom today after the district reinstated him.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Students put their cellphone in a box before heading to class at Sylvan Hills Middle School in Atlanta.  The Georgia Department of Education wants lawmakers to expand a cellphone ban. (AJC file)

Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC

Featured

Cooling towers for Units 4 and 3 are seen at Plant Vogtle, operated by Georgia Power Co., in east Georgia's Burke County near Waynesboro, on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC