Edhelper Removes Racist Homework Assignment

Thanks to all of our readers who took action.

By Mu00f3nica Novoa Mar 30, 2011

We made the call for help, and Colorlines.com readers answered. EdHelper.com has taken down the homework assignment that asked third graders, "What does the U.S do with Illegal Aliens?" The answers included "the U.S. shoots them into outer space" and the "U.S. puts them to death." It was an outrageous story that we brought to you last week, and thanks to your online demands, it’s been taken down.

Edhelper.com told CNN in a statement today, "We have received a lot of feedback on this article. The question that was discussed, we felt was in poor judgment and has been removed from the article. The main goal of the article was to teach comprehension and also that people need permission before going to another country." While EdHelper’s statement acknowledges poor judgment on one question, the entire story was actually appalling. This assignment carries an anti-immigrant message that does not provide the foundation for third graders to grasp our broken immigration system. It’s bad enough we deal with anti-immigrant ideology in public discourse, but educators should not be free to espouse this hate in the classroom.

Thanks to all of our readers who took action.