IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A high school teacher in Iowa has been placed on leave for assigning students to “pretend you are a black slave.” The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that the assignment for an online freshman class at Liberty High School in Iowa City asked students to write four sentences about what they would do if they were a slave who was freed.

The district says the teacher, whose name was not released, was placed on administrative leave and the assignment was removed. The district called the assignment “inappropriate.”