A high school in Chicago, Illinois, is drawing attention online after a recording of a Black History Month play depicting slavery began circulating on social media. A disturbed teacher, who requested to remain anonymous, leaked a recording of the disturbing performance, as revealed in a TikTok clip that has since gone viral. While speaking to the outlet, the teacher shared that the play was done in February during Black History Month and was titled “The Journey Back to America.” According to him, the major concerns were the casting and the script.
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NBC 5 Investigates has received video of African American students at a South Side high school performing a re-enactment of a slave auction. The performance was part of a Black History Month celebration at Carver Military Academy on the Far South Side back in February 2025. Teachers said they brought their complaints to the school’s principal and CPS administrators, but they fell on deaf ears. The play was called “Journey Back to America,” depicting slavery and the African American experience. But one scene in the play depicts students taking part in a mock slave auction – with students in the audience bidding. “The students were divvied up and Hispanic, Latino students were utilized as slave auctioneers and purchasers and Black students were utilized…slaves and so that seemed intentional that the Latino students were the auctioneers and the Black students were slaves,” said a longtime Carver teacher who witnessed the performance and brought a complaint to the principal and CPS administrators. The teacher has asked to remain anonymous. #cps #chicago #education #blackhistorymonth…