Oak Park

Suburban Park District Cancels Cooking Class Focused on Transatlantic Slave Trade Following Backlash

A local history teacher said many people were outraged and voiced concerns on social media, asking that the park district cancel the class.

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A suburban Chicago park district won’t offer a summer program that would have allowed participants to “cook and investigate the history and flavors of the transatlantic slave trade” in response to complaints that the offering was racially insensitive and offensive. NBC 5’s Regina Waldroup reports.

The Park District of Oak Park won't offer a summer program that would have allowed participants to "cook and investigate the history and flavors of the transatlantic slave trade" in response to complaints that the offering was racially insensitive and offensive.

The class, entitled the "Transatlantic Slave Trade," was among the programs the Park District advertised for teens and teenagers in its 2023 Summer Camp Guide. The course, which was planned for Aug. 14-18, sought to inform campers about techniques including African swallow foods, food evolution and working with seafood.

"Each day, your camper will discover a new port from the route and understand the significance of slavery on every meal we eat," the course description read, in part.

Anthony Clark, a history teacher at Oak Park and River Forest High School, said when he first read the listing, he was shocked. The teacher explained that "there is a lot of pain and trauma and death attached to this cuisine."

"I didn't think it was serious," he said, referring to the offering in the program guide. "I thought someone had photoshopped it as some type of joke."

Juanta Griffin, the parent of an 11-year-old, too thought the listing wasn't real - at first.

"How did this get past all of the I's [inclusion] and DEI [Diversity, equity and inclusion] people," she said. "How could this possibly be?"

Clark says many people were outraged and voiced concerns on social media, asking that the park district cancel the class.

"We made different posts asking individuals to email the park district – to communicate their displeasure," the teacher said.

Some people were especially shocked the post was made in Oak Park, a village known for its diversity and inclusiveness.

Earlier this week, the park district changed the name of the course, then on Friday, released a statement saying it won't be offering the class.

"The Park District of Oak Park prioritizes building community and providing educational opportunities," the district said in a statement. "Shortly after the district’s summer camp guide was released, we heard from some our residents that they were offended by the title of one program offering. We responded immediately.  The class has been removed from the brochure and will not be offered. We acknowledged the concerns and apologized.  We strive to reflect our community’s values. The Park District of Oak Park looks forward to continued dialogue that strengthens our community."

Clark says he's glad the park district listened to the community's concerns, but explained more work needs to be done.

"We have to be careful – what type of classes are we putting out there and who is teaching these classes," he said.

The village of Oak Park distributed the following statement regarding the controversy:

"Last week the Park District of Oak Park released its upcoming 2023 Summer Camp Guide and included in the programming is a weeklong activity previously entitled “The Transatlantic Slave Trade.” It is designed as a cooking and history class to “investigate the history and flavors of the transatlantic slave trade.”

The impact of this programming, its original title, and course description is significant. In the days since the class was announced, community members and stakeholders throughout Oak Park have expressed the hurt that they have felt by what has been perceived by many as shocking, insensitive, and missing the mark. The Village of Oak Park, though it has no jurisdiction over the camp offering, has heard from many of the community members and deeply acknowledges the frustration and disappointment.

Any program that lacks thoughtful intentionality can undermine the advances in diversity, equity and inclusion work that is needed and is taking place across Oak Park. While this work remains in its infancy, it is clear that so much more is left to be done in the areas of community engagement, identifying resources, and collaboration among partners to bring us all to a greater destination.

The title of the class has been changed by the Park District of Oak Park and the mention of transatlantic slavery has been removed. That is only a first step and we know that more work must be done so that our entire community can feel included and embraced at all times. The Village of Oak Park will continue to be a leader in this space and collaborate with the Park District of Oak Park and all of its partners throughout the community to remain vigilant in our DEI work as we grow and improve together."

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