On the day the Supreme Court issued its decision finding that school districts should no longer take race into consideration as a factor in school admissions, or at least the race of African Americans, because that constitutes impermissible racial discrimination against white students (to paraphrase Chief Justice Roberts — caution: pdf file), I came across this story about an African American teacher suing her school district for racial discrimination and harassment with regard to her employment. A few relevant excerpts follow:
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[An African American] Howard County public school teacher this week testified before a Circuit Court jury about what she called a pattern of racist harassment and hostility she experienced at Centennial High School that caused her to become anxious and depressed — a charge school officials deny. […]
“It was really difficult being in the building and not knowing exactly what was going to happen during the day,” [Michelle] Maupin told the jury June 26. “I found myself feeling like I was totally going to break down in front of my class.”
Maupin’s suit accuses coworkers and supervisors at the school of making racist comments and harassing her, while officials failed to address her complaints.
The suit names as defendants the Howard County school system and Board of Education, former Centennial principal Lynda Mitic, current Centennial principal Scott Pfeifer and Centennial English teacher Margaret Polek. […]
In her lawsuit, Maupin said she experienced discrimination shortly after being hired at Centennial in August 2003, including a comment Mitic made to her during a 2003 meeting.
“She said she wondered if I knew how to be warm and compassionate. She said she wondered, when I hand out my papers, if I knew the students’ names. She said she didn’t feel I was intellectually capable of handling the curriculum,” Maupin told jurors June 26. “I became very upset. I didn’t say much. I ran out of the meeting in tears.” […]
Maupin’s lawsuit also refers to an incident in which she discovered a picture of a “small, ape-like creature” on her desk, which she claims Polek left there as a reference to Maupin’s race and size.
She also testified that Pfeifer denied her request for security accommodations after she received a threatening phone call from a person who identified himself as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. […]
During Maupin’s time at Centennial, the Howard County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People leveled accusations of racism at the school in relation to the demotion of two high-ranking black administrators for misuse of power in an alleged grade-fixing scandal at Centennial in the 2003-04 school year.
The administrators, Roger Plunkett and Kimberly Statham, were later cleared of nearly all the charges against them and reinstated to high-ranking offices.
[…]On June 27, Statham’s husband, Michael Statham, testified about his perception of the climate at Centennial and his interactions with Mitic, when his child attended the school in the 2003-04 school year.
Statham, who is black, told the jury that Centennial High School “was not a nurturing environment for African-American students.”
“We were treated like the bottom of someone’s shoe,” he said.
Well, I’m sure Ms. Maupin is one of those uppity, angry black women who like to throw charges around of racism by their white employers like so much confetti at a New Year’s Day Party. At least, that’s how the defense attorney for the school system is painting her:
In his opening statement to the jury this week, school system attorney Daniel Scherr reiterated that school system officials and staff members had not harassed or ignored Maupin, whom he described as a person who “saw racial bias in every interaction.”
“Some of these allegations hurt when you hear them because there’s been enough racism in this country,” he said. “The only thing that’s worse is when someone is claiming it when it’s not so.”
Scherr told the jury, “I think you’ll find that this is a sad story about an isolated person who lives life from a skewed perspective.”
Yep, being a black teacher at a predominately white high school, having your integrity, compassion and intelligence called into question, and finding ape-like drawings placed on your desk by other teachers sure would lead to a skewed perspective all right. I feel so bad for those unjustly criticized white teachers and administrators for having to deal with her “rush to judgment” mentality about their perfectly reasonable actions criticizing her “bad attitude.”
But it’s not just African American teachers who have to worry about what their white colleagues might do to them. Atrios today also reminds us of the continuing case in the town of Jena, Louisiana, where white high school students hung nooses from a “whites only” tree after learning black students were planning to congregate there. When the white students responsible for this outrage received only a slap on the wrist from school administrators, it resulted in a series of racially charged incidents between whites and blacks in Jena.
The boys who hung the nooses were suspended from school for a few days. The school administration chalked it up as a harmless prank, but Jena’s black population didn’t take it so lightly. Fights and unrest started breaking out at school. The District Attorney, Reed Walters, was called in to directly address black students at the school and told them all he could “end their life with a stroke of the pen.”
Black students were assaulted at white parties. A white man drew a loaded rifle on three black teens at a local convenience store. (They wrestled it from him and ran away.) Someone tried to burn down the school, and on December 4th, a fight broke out that led to six black students being charged with attempted murder. To his word, the D.A. pushed for maximum charges, which carry sentences of eighty years. Four of the six are being tried as adults (ages 17 & 18) and two are juveniles.
These incidents culminated in attempted murder charges being brought by the local District attorney, Reed Walters (a white man) against six black students who were involved in a fight with white students at the high school. Here’s how Friends of Justice describes the incident:
Shortly after the lunch hour of Monday, December 4, 2006, a fight between a white student and a black student reportedly ended with the white student being knocked to the floor. Several black students reportedly attacked the white student as he lay unconscious. Because the incident took place in a crowded area and was over in a matter of seconds eye witness accounts vary widely. Written statements from students closest to the scene (in space and time) suggest that the incident was sparked by an angry exchange in the gymnasium moments before in which the black student assaulted at the Fair Barn was taunted for having his “ass whipped”. […]
Within an hour of the fight, six black students were arrested and charged with aggravated battery. According to The Jena Times, at least a dozen teachers subsequently threatened a “sick-out” if discipline was not restored to the school. According to the Alexandria Town Talk, District Attorney Reed Walters responded to the teacher’s threat by upping the charges on the six boys to attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder—charges carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Naturally enough, the first of the Jena Six is being tried before an all white jury. Still, it’s nice to know our Supreme Court is so concerned with racial discrimination against White American students in our schools. Because we all know racial discrimination against African Americans was wiped out decades ago, so discrimination against whites is the only racism that really matters anymore. Right?
