From Judge James Peterson's decision Friday in Ervins v. Sun Prairie Area School Dist. (W.D. Wis.):
February 1 was the first day of Black History Month, so Black history was part of the curriculum at the time [at a Sun Prairie middle school]. Sixth graders were also beginning a unit on ancient Mesopotamia. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, classes at Patrick Marsh were taught remotely that semester. Students were sent a slide deck with lessons and activities to read and complete at home each day….
The February 1 slide deck in … included a Black History Month slide featuring Black leaders, including Barack Obama, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King,. The rest of the deck was about the geography, religion, and politics of ancient Mesopotamia. The deck contained several slides about Hammurabi, a Mesopotamian king who created an early set of laws known as Hammurabi's Code.
At the end of the slide deck, there was an interactive assignment, titled "Hammurabi's Code—Your Turn to be the Judge," that asked students to apply Hammurabi's Code to three scenarios. One scenario stated:
A slave stands before you. This slave has disrespected his master by telling him "You are not my master!" How will you punish this slave?
The students were supposed to type in their answers and the correct answer would be revealed. The correct answer was "put to death."
The plaintiffs, parents of black students in the class, sued under Title VI (and brought related claims under the Equal Protection Clause), but the court rejected the claims:
