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For Black History Month, Students Asked to Play 'Runaway Slave' Game in Gym Class

The principal of an elementary school in the Virginia suburbs of Washington has apologized for a gym class exercise in which pupils were told to act as runaway slaves for Black History Month.

By Alex Johnson

The principal of an elementary school in the Virginia suburbs of Washington has apologized for a gym class exercise in which pupils were told to act as runaway slaves for Black History Month.

"The lesson was culturally insensitive to our students and families. I extend my sincerest apology to our students and school community," David Stewart, principal of Madison's Trust Elementary School in Ashburn, Virginia, said in a letter to parents dated Feb. 12 and obtained by NBC Washington.

The incident is especially sensitive for Virginia, whose governor, Ralph Northam, has apologized after it was revealed that a racist photo appeared on his page in his 1984 medical school yearbook, which featured men in blackface and Ku Klux Klan robes. Northam has refused bipartisan calls to resign.

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