Cotton remains a major crop in the south and is the most common textile used in the production of clothing.

It is also off limits now because racism.

A Southwest Florida dad says he was shocked at what his son brought home from school Tuesday night.

Drugs? Firearm? Fidget Spinner?

Worse.

Inside of the bag were pieces of cotton and cotton seeds.

O. M. G.

He says his 8-year-old son, Jaxson, came home and proudly displayed a small bag that he got from school.

Think of it, a wide-eyed 8-year old got to see what raw cotton looked like, a rare up-close look at nature's wonder and an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the connection between the crop and the shirt on his back.

So let's ruin all that.

"It's humiliating for my son to come home and flash a bag of cotton in my face..."

It clearly wasn't humiliating for your child. It's about him, right? Not you?

"...cause I know what it is."

Presumably that is because someone taught you. Is that something you want to deny your child?

Williams, a Black man, tells FOX 4 he was speechless.

Not for long, unfortunately.

Williams says he immediately reached out to the school.

He tells FOX 4 a front desk attendant answered, and he felt like his concerns were not understood or taken seriously.

"Either you're that naive or you just blatantly didn't care."

Or, you aren't consumed with ceaseless rage.

That's when he reached out to FOX 4, and we presented his concerns to the school.

Williams said he then received a call back.

He tells me the school did attempt to apologize, but he was not interested in their apology.

That's when he hung up the phone.

Why let an apology get in the way of that sweet wash of moral outrage. It's like a taking a long hot shower in virtue, you just don't want it to stop.

The school's principal tells me a teacher brought the cotton to school as part of a lesson on crop from regions across the United States - something the teacher has done for the last 3 years.

But, Williams says more thought should have been given to just who was sitting in the classroom.

"How don't you consider what lessons you're bringing and how that could offend someone or another culture?"

What is he saying here? That black kids shouldn't learn what cotton is? Are there any other textiles that are forbidden? Should we ensure school curriculums don't include anything that could offend someone who might be from another "culture?"

Muslims in the classroom? Sorry, we won't be covering pigs in our unit about farms. So what if kids have no idea where bacon comes from.

Hindu? There go the cows, too. Well, at least they'll still learn about chickens.

Oops, there's a vegan. Forget the chickens, as well. Kids don't need to know what farm animals are anyway, do they? Not after Bill Gates gets done, they don't.

"Me being a Black man and having to listen to my great grandfather tell me the struggle that they had to do using and picking this crop in the South. Like that is offensive."

The fact that this country once tolerated slavery and that his great grandfather had been one is absolutely offensive, more than offensive.

But learning about cotton itself? From a plastic bag? You pretty much have to be looking to be offended full-time to get there.

He says Jaxson's bag of cotton seeds lead to a tough conversation on Tuesday night, and tears rolled down his face as he shared his son's response.

"It was kind of upsetting because he's like ‘Dad, so they beat up kids…they were making kids like me pick this stuff and they whipped them?' ‘Yeah man. Because were Black. Yeah.'"

It's an ugly history, and the kids are taught that when appropriate for the age. My son learned all about it when he was a couple years older than this kid.

But consider the context here.

They didn't go out in a field, they were just given the choice to play with the raw cotton "picking it" from a plastic bag. No one said anything offensive, no racist jokes were made (the kids probably wouldn't know one anyway I would hope). As far as this young child knew, he was learning something interesting and having fun doing it with his classmates.

And his father wrecked all that. He didn't do it for the kid, if this were for the kid he never would have made a big deal out of it, he never would have hung up on the school and gone to the media.

This was about him.

To gain broader perspective, FOX 4 reached out to Dr. Ted Thornhill.

He is the director of the Center for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Of course.

If you have "problematic" or "do better" on your Critical-Race-Theory-Shill Bingo Card, you're going to be pleased.

"I think this parent is right. It's disturbing and racially problematic. Just because you do something every year...doesn't make it right."

"That anger that parents feels is amplified by the indifference."

Dr. Thornhill suggested that the school apologize and provide a "formal commitment to do better."

The indifference was because the school had no idea what he was talking about. His child didn't either. This is a controversy manufactured inside the head of one dad, and just because the world around him does not share in that madness does not mean they have done anything wrong.

The school issued a formal statement that said in part,

We researched the situation and found that this was part of a larger lesson about the SE U.S. where cotton was a major crop. Because many of the students had never felt or saw raw cotton, the teacher gave them that opportunity and allowed any student who wanted, to take the cotton and seeds home. There was no further activity or homework planned and students were not required to do anything further. – Colleen Reynolds, spokesperson for Mid Cape Global Academy

As she later explained to Fox,

"It was about a crop. It was not about slavery."

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

The school's principal, Jamie Trotter, also weighed in.

"What happened was a learning situation for the school, as we will evaluate and do what's best for our school moving forward. We'll take a closer look at cultural sensitivity. That truly was not on the radar. We didn't mean to hurt anyone else.

Was that enough for the enraged dad?

But, Williams says that's not enough.

Sorry, silly question.

"It doesn't matter what culture you come from. This is something that every adult in this country knows about. I don't accept it. It's unacceptable."

To learn about cotton is unacceptable? To pick at raw cotton from a plastic bag is unacceptable?

To have a fun learning experience is unacceptable?

How, exactly, should the kids learn about cotton? How more innocent and antiseptic could it have possibly been?

Mid Cape Global Academy is a tuition-free charter school and is about as woke as you can get.

"As a school community, we represent more than 30 different countries with a very diverse student and staff population, and the new name is reflective of our student body, curriculum and feature programs which speak to our identity as a school.," said Jaime Trotter, principal of Mid Cape Global Academy. "Our school approaches everything from a global perspective. We've incorporated projects around the 17 Sustainable Global Goals from the United Nations with initiatives such as clean water and reducing poverty and hunger.

Then again, you can never be too woke.

Ever.