Gen Xers: Did your HS have a “freshman slave” auction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Graduated in '92. Went to a National Honors Latin Competition (had a project in it, won 2nd place). They had a slave auction. Think the kids bid with "money" won from various competitions.

Different time, different place.

Where was the competition? Who was hosting?

[Anonymous]

Disgusting!! This makes me feel terrible all over again. I am AA and was in 9th grade in an all white school and my social studies teacher had us reenact slavery and guess who got to be the slave? They all looked at me and he told me to be the slave. I wish I could just disappear and stayed home from school from an "illness" the next two days trying to avoid that class. The teacher was a vet and a racist civil war enthusiast.

[Anonymous]

Wow, no slave auction for sure. But my college did a "dream date" auction, women and men, which was not in the best taste.

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure my school called it a “senior slave auction.” The appalling tradition ended when I was in middle school - mid 1980’s in NJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Disgusting!! This makes me feel terrible all over again. I am AA and was in 9th grade in an all white school and my social studies teacher had us reenact slavery and guess who got to be the slave? They all looked at me and he told me to be the slave. I wish I could just disappear and stayed home from school from an "illness" the next two days trying to avoid that class. The teacher was a vet and a racist civil war enthusiast.

OMG. That is so messed up. When was this?

[Anonymous]

No. Suburban Pittsburgh school district.

[Anonymous]

No. Class of 1985, North Carolina town.

[Anonymous]

No class of 92 Florida.

[Anonymous]

Yes Wisconsin. Class of 92

[Anonymous]

Class of ‘92, Midwest. We actually had Senior Slave Week second semester senior year. Underclassmen bid cash on ~20 or so senior volunteers to drive them around, carry books, take notes, etc. and money went to Student Council programming.

Looking back, this was wrong on so many levels, most of all liability with driving.

[Anonymous]

Class of 86, small town/high school on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. So my freshman year would have been 81-82.

We had something called Tag day. Upper classmen bought a tag, and then with that tag they could do anything they wanted to / ask anything of a freshman. There were limits. I ended up with my face covered in face paint. Older siblings were excited to haze their younger siblings, especially boys.

Reminded me of the movie dazed and confused when I saw it years later. But in Dazed, Think it was that seniors paddled freshmen? There were rules in my school, but I don't remember anything more specific that it happened.

[Anonymous]

Class of '98 in Mississippi. We had slave-for-a-day auctions that weren't tied to any class, just anyone who wanted to participate as a fundraiser for homecoming spirit week. Plenty of people thought it was tacky then, but tradition or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Class of 86, so borderline boomer. Marching band seniors got a freshman slave. The senior who chose me played the tuba. Yes, it sucked. Moanalua High School in Honolulu, Hawaii.

[Anonymous]

Tennessee. 1994 HS grad. No way that would happen.

[Anonymous]

South Carolina 1998. Even we weren't that stupid.