Students disciplined for the “Start slavery again” petition at Park Hill South High School have sued the Park Hill school district saying that the petition was not racial harassment as portrayed in public.
Instead, the widely reported petition — which The Star also reported — began as “friendly banter” between a biracial student and a Black student on the football team while en route to an away game, according to the federal lawsuit filed Friday on behalf of the four students.
Outcry over the petition lead to the expulsion of one student and 180-day suspensions for three others.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the students by their parents, claims that the Park Hill School District, its board of education and district officials violated the students’ civil rights when it disciplined them for the incident. The names of the plaintiffs were left anonymous.
In a statement provided by Park Hill spokeswoman Nicole Kirby, the district said: “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.”
One of the fathers of the students involved, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his child’s identity, told The Star that the football team has long had a culture infused with the use of racial slurs and offensive comments.
“The N-word is rampant among the players. Adult supervision at Park Hill South has done nothing to address that or educate them on why that’s not appropriate,” he said. “The coach has really tried to do a good job and would reprimand players. But school officials really have done nothing to educate these 14-year-olds on why you don’t use racial slurs.”
“Does anyone really believe someone wants to start slavery again? No. It was a sick joke. But they did not do it maliciously,” the father said.
After the incident, he argued school officials conducted a “botched investigation.”
He said the immediate goal is to obtain a temporary restraining order so the students can return to the classroom again.
“And (the four families) are all in agreement that we want this expunged from the boys’ records,” the father said. “We want Assistant Principal Walker and Principal Herren and Superintendent Cowherd held responsible for the false narrative they put out there.”
According to the lawsuit, the petition was started as friendly banter about slavery and needing a job between a biracial student with Black and Brazilian ancestry, and a Black student while on a bus to an away football game on Sept. 16.
Both found it humorous and the biracial student drafted a petition on Change.org. Before posting it, he showed it to the other student and others seated near them. “All laughingly approved” and the petition creator posted it online.
A link to the petition was shared with others on the football team and a link was posted to the team’s Snapchat group which had 35 members. The team’s Snapchat message was shared outside the team and it set off a firestorm of criticism by adults, “many without any affiliation with the district,” the lawsuit reads.
The suit claims the firestorm was fed by the district itself when Park Hill South Principal Kerrie Herren let the school community know that a “racist petition” had been circulated without identifying the race or ethnicity of the students involved. That omission, the suit alleges, fed a growing public belief that racist white students had been the source of the petition.
The school board on Nov. 3 expelled the student who posted the petition and suspended three others who had commented on the petition. Two of those students are white and the other is biracial with white and Asian parents. The board didn’t take any action against the other student involved in the “friendly banter.”
The ones disciplined posted comments on the petition that said: Student not disciplined “needs a job,” “I love slavery” and “I hate blacks,” according to the lawsuit.
All four students who were disciplined were in ninth grade, ages 14 and 15, and members of the football team.
The four-count suit claims that the students’ First Amendment rights were violated. The petition, the lawsuit contends, was an expression of humor and that their expression of humor was "not intended to cause and did not cause any disruption to educational or sports activities.”
The suit contends that it was the action of the district and others, including adults outside the district, that caused any disruptions of the educational mission of the district.
The suit also contends that the student’s 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection rights were violated as well. The lawsuit contends the district didn’t adequately train and supervise the board to prevent the expulsion and suspension of the students in violation of their constitutional rights.
The suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages and an order allowing the students to return to school.
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