14 DAY TRIAL // The Confederate army symbols have raised their share of controversy, as people have been arguing on the morality of exhibiting these items, reminding people of a harsh period, with an accent of racial discrimination and the persecution of African-Americans.
No wonder this Reidsville African-American mom was outraged when she saw her child wearing a replica of a Confederate army hat that he received as a prize in school. Natasha Lea noticed the controversial clothing item when her nine-year-old son, Jacob, came back from school.
The boy was wearing a new, gray hat with a black bill, that despite not having any visible symbols, it had a tag inside reading “Confederate.” Associating the Confederate period with a dark phase in the minority's history, the mother decided to confront the teacher that made such a mistake.
“I did not want to believe that. That the school actually let him walk around as an African American child with a Confederate cap on. This stands for a dark time in our history,” Lea says, according to Fox 8 News.
The cap was a reward in a “big bucks” competition that encouraged children's good behavior by offering gifts just before the winter holidays in South End Elementary, North Carolina. The majority of the items auctioned for the children were donated by locals, and the gray cap happened to be one of those items.
After several inquiries, it was proven that the teacher, who organized the game, had no intent to offend anyone, she didn't pay much attention to the themed hat and just auctioned it like a normal item. School leaders promised to take extra precautions in order to avoid any similar events, that could cause discrimination issues.
Natasha Lea admitted to the fact that even if the situation was just a mistake and no malicious intent was involved she still felt rather hurt, and hopefully she would not have to go through that again.