In a reenactment for a film project on racism in America, Catherine Ariemma, the history class teacher at Lumpkin County High School in Georgia, instructed her students to dress up like members of the racist extremist group, the Ku Klux Klan.

Ariemma said the lesson she was teaching about racism was an important one and she knew the costumes would get a bad reaction, but she said she warned her students "not to walk through the building by [yourselves] because I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

Some students and their parents became offended, resulting in the involvement of the school superintendent in the matter.

Ariemma has been put on paid leave while an investigation is being held. The school's superintendent says she has always been an "outstanding teacher" but the KKK costumes were definitely "offensive."