The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan has filed a federal discrimination complaint arguing the state's Paw Paw Public Schools have created a racist atmosphere for its students.
"This complaint is filed on behalf of all victimized persons who have been or will be on Paw Paw Public Schools properties," the complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education read. "The discrimination is pervasive and affects diverse individuals or groups. Although there are individual acts of discrimination, the problems that are the subject of the complaint are systematic and require a system-wide investigation and remedy."
The ACLU claims numerous incidents "of harassment, discrimination, bullying, intimidation and use of imagery and language that causes humiliation,” have occurred in the school district.
Among the organization's list of "relevant facts" is a high-profile controversy from 2013. At the time, M Live reports, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and several Native American groups tried to get the school district to stop using the name "Redskins" for its sports teams. These pleas went unanswered, with at least one Native American woman being kicked out of a meeting about the name. Eventually, in 2017, the school district voted to keep both name and its accompanying logo.
The ACLU also says it found students constantly use the word "n****r," including one case where a student used an eraser to write the slur on a carpet and another in which a student called to the board to demonstrate something for the class instead wrote "n****r."
Anti-Semitism is also reportedly a problem. The ACLU discovered one case in which a teacher allegedly told a student their use of a swastika in a project was "artistic."
ACLU Attorney Mark Francher told the Detroit Free Press the "level of fear that appears to exist in that community among groups that have been targeted by the bigotry is such that we really felt something extraordinary needed to happen in that community."
Most of Paw Paw, Michigan is white; City Data reports the 2010 census found the area to be 87 percent white. Black and Native American residents make up about two percent of the population.
In order to make sure it is taken seriously, the ACLU has threatened to work to have the district's federal funding taken away should it not cooperate. The civil rights organization has also requested the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights conduct its own investigation into Paw Paw and provide immediate solutions to the problems the ACLU claims are plaguing students.
WNEM reports Paw Paw Public Schools District Superintendent Sonia Lark has denied all of the allegations in the complaint,
"District staff and administration work tirelessly to promote diversity and to encourage cultural sensitivity," Lark wrote in a statement. "The district does not tolerate unlawful discrimination or harassment.”
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