A group of Black state lawmakers is calling for accountability at CPS after an exclusive NBC 5 Investigates report on a play at Carver Military Academy on the South Side depicting Latino students auctioning off Black students as slaves.
They say that CPS’ response to the controversy raises more questions than answers.
“I just horrified. I was frustrated,” said IL State Sen. Lakesia Collins.
Collins chairs the Legislative Black Caucus and said she had an immediate, visceral reaction when she watched the video from a 2025 Black History Month assembly.
A video of the play shot by a student in the audience was provided to NBC 5 Investigates, and a longtime Carver teacher spoke with us, asking to remain anonymous.
“Several teachers, including myself, and several parents left,” he said. “We walked out of the auditorium because we couldn’t believe what was happening.”
NBC 5 Investigates has received video of African American students at a South Side high school performing a re-enactment of a slave auction. Some teachers are speaking out, saying it caused harm to students, teachers and parents alike – and Chicago Public Schools has failed to address it. Paris Schutz reports.
The teacher felt his complaints fell on deaf ears when he brought them to the school’s principal, and to the CPS Network and District leaders.
Late Friday, CPS issued a length statement saying district leaders became aware of the concerns in February 2026, a year after the incident.
“CPS does not support simulations or reenactments involving the history of formerly enslaved people in the United States. While CPS cannot comment on personnel matters or any related actions, activities of this nature are wholly inconsistent with the expectations and values of this administration.”
In response, the district sent leaders at Carver a pamphlet entitled “10 Practices for Culturally-Responsive and Inclusive School Celebrations,” but Collins says the response is inadequate.
“CPS, when I heard their initial response to this, it was unacceptable,” she said. “CPS needs to hold them all accountable. I want to know who viewed it, and I think the public should know that.”
The play was written by a Carver administration, and Collins says that individual, along with anyone who screened and approved the production, should face consequences.
The video depicted apparent jeering and laughing from students, and she says the behavior indicates a dark and important chapter of American history was trivialized, hurting students in the process.
“It’s something that should not be displayed on a stage in a play because it minimized the trauma that our ancestors endured and it also pits two communities who are minority communities against each other,” she said.
