Braylen was given a monkey award by his teacher.
Ellis was angry when Braylen showed off his award at home.
Ellis said that the man had no idea what he was holding. She said it wasn't acceptable for her.
Ellis said they weren't happy about it I still don't like it. She said she was angry because she didn't understand why her son got the monkey award after completing pre-K.
Ellis contacted the South Panola school district but didn't get a response after six days and several calls, so she contacted Action News 5 for help.
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The mother of a Black preschooler in Mississippi has expressed outrage over a teacher giving her preschool-age son a “Monkey Award.”https://t.co/no9qU1Yqrt
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) June 3, 2022
Ellis was told that the Braylens award was for his "energy" and that the teacher wasn't aware that the history and African Americans being compared to monkeys was a synonym.
Ellis said that the teacher said that she gave him the award for his energy. She said that the award doesn't say anything about energy.
Black told Ellis that there was a meeting held with teachers and that they didn't want to give out awards that would cause concern.
Ellis said that she stated that she had a meeting with them and told them not to give out awards that were offensive or raise a red flag.
The day Braylen received his monkey award, they told her that an animal-themed award ceremony had taken place in his class.
The Braylens incident should have been addressed immediately and award ceremonies such as this one would be stopped according to the apology.
Ellis said that the teachers have messed up. They weren't right. They were wrong. The principal was aware that they were incorrect. She said that they need to be held accountable for their actions.
It's not clear how many other students have been given offensive awards.
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