Students Disciplined Over 'Petition' To Restart Slavery Sue School District For Civil Rights Violations
Students at Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Missouri are suing after they were disciplined over a “start slavery again” petition.
According to the Kansas City Star, parents are outraged that their children were disciplined over simple “banter.” The Kansas City Star reports the lawsuit states that a freshman, referenced as Plaintiff A, “who identifies as Black and Brazilian,” was on a school bus traveling to a football game and “bantered” with another student, who the lawsuit identifies as Black and is referenced in court documents as Student X, about slavery and needing a job. The lawsuit alleges Plaintiff A drafted a Change.org petition to “start slavery again,” showed it to other students on the bus and then posted it on social media. Comments on the petition reportedly read “I love slavery” and “I hate blacks.”
Once adults were made aware of the petition, four students were punished. On Nov. 3, the school board expelled Plaintiff A, the student who posted the petition, and suspended three others who had commented on the petition, two were white and the other was biracial “with white and Asian parents,” according to The Kansas City Star. They were all football players.
Student X, the Black student, who reportedly saw the petition but did not create the petition or comment, was not disciplined.
The four-count suit claims that the students’ First Amendment rights were violated and that the racist petition was “not intended to cause and did not cause any disruption to educational or sports activities.”
The lawsuit also claims that the student’s 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection rights were violated.
According to KCUR, Arthur Benson II, the lawyer representing the four students, said in a statement, “Fourteen-year-olds sometimes unwisely shoot their mouths off, instantly regretting it but causing no harm, no disruption. But here it was adults who unwisely over-reacted, causing the disruptions and they are now trying to strip these boys of their entire ninth grades.”
Nicole Kirby, Park Hill spokesperson, said in a statement, “As this lawsuit describes, we took prompt, decisive action to enforce our policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment and uncivil behavior. The suit shares that we expelled one student and suspended three others for 180 days. We will be able to share further details when we respond to this lawsuit in court.”
