School System Responds To Controversial History Lesson At MBHS

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL — Controversy surrounding a history lesson involving Nazi salutes at Mountain Brook High School prompted swift backlash from Jewish advocacy groups and an investigation into the matter by Mountain Brook Schools.

Two local Jewish organizations and Mountain Brook Schools released statements on Tuesday about a photo and video circulating on social media showing a few students in a Mountain Brook High School classroom rendering a Nazi salute during a teacher-led lesson. A few accounts of the incident suggested the salute was being made toward the American flag.

In the photo, not all students pictured are making the gesture.

The school district said it investigated and learned that the video comes from a U.S. history class where the teacher was giving a lesson about how meanings of symbols can be drastically changed.

Initially, the school system responded with a statement saying, "The picture and 3-second video being circulated are not representative of the lesson, what was being taught, or the context of the instruction that was occurring," Mountain Brook Schools said in its statement. "Any representation that this picture or video represents a Mountain Brook teacher attempting to instruct students on how to use the Nazi Party Salute or instruct them to use the salute towards the American flag is unequivocally false. No students were asked to raise their hand for any reason."

Related: Jewish Groups, District Address Mountain Brook High School Incident

However, Thursday the school system issued another statement regarding the issue after further investigation:

"The last few days have been a very difficult time for the high school, school system, and community," MBS said in their statement Thursday afternoon. "Earlier this week, we released a statement concerning an instructional method used in a US History lesson. We continue to learn about this matter and have heard many perspectives.

"One thing has become clear, the instructional strategy for this lesson lacked sensitivity, and however unintentional, caused hurt and distress within the community. More than 17 million people were killed, including 6 million Jews, during the Holocaust and this salute desecrates their memory. We are deeply apologetic for the pain caused. There are more effective ways to teach this subject without recreating painful, emotional responses to history’s atrocities. To improve our instructional strategies, we will continue to work with the Alabama Holocaust Education Center to advance training for our teachers surrounding Antisemitism, the Holocaust, and its symbols.

"We are committed to providing a safe learning environment for everyone in our schools. We continue to be in close communication with the Birmingham Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Relations Council. We understand the impact of this issue on our community and families. We will continue to provide education and additional opportunities for ongoing dialogue within the community.

We absolutely and unequivocally stand against Antisemitism."