Michigan teacher suspended for showing video about blackface

MONROE, Mich., June 1 (UPI) -- A middle school teacher in Michigan was suspended after he showed a video about blackface in class.

Alan Barron, a history teacher at Monroe Middle School, showed a video in class about how white entertainers used blackface to imitate African Americans during the 1800s, the Monroe News reported.

An assistant principal was sitting in on the class at the time and considered the lesson racist and offensive, and Barron was put on paid administrative leave two weeks before he was due to retire.

One parent, whose child was in the class and whose husband is African American, said the video was simply meant to show what happened in history and her daughter wasn't offended.

"She was more offended that they stopped the video," Adrienne Aaron said. "It had nothing to do with racism. History is history. We need to educate our kids to see how far we've come in America. How is that racism?"