A Black mother in Nevada is suing her son’s school after he refused to admit his “white dominance” during a high school sociology class.
The litigation comes after Gabrielle Clark claims her white-passing, biracial son was asked to reveal aspects of his racial identity. When he objected, he was threatened with receiving a failing grade, ultimately affecting his graduation eligibility.
Clark and her son, William Clark, whose deceased father is white, have raised over $70,000 of aid via GoFundMe in the lawsuit against William's charter school, Democracy Preparatory Academy at Agassi Campus in Las Vegas.
On the family’s GoFundMe page, which was organized by The Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), they stated, “In the class, William, along with all the students, was asked to publicly reveal his race, gender, religious and sexual identities, and then attach derogatory labels to those identities. Students were then asked to “undo and unlearn” their “beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that stem from oppression.”
Gabrielle immediately denounced the lesson during her son’s required senior-level sociology for change course, suggesting that his instructor, Kathryn Bass, “put a target on my son’s [William’s] back.” She subsequently filed a suit against the school in December 2020.
“Defendants’ coercive and intrusive behavior compelled William Clark’s protected speech and invaded his privacy, violating his constitutional rights under the First Amendment and his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment,” the suit states.
According to the lawsuit, Bass, a self-proclaimed “white, Irish, American citizen,” asserted that “everyone can be racist,” but terminated the conversation after William, amongst other students, challenged her claims.
Bass also alleged during her lesson that “reverse racism doesn’t exist," using a SpongeBob SquarePants meme to illustrate her sentiments.
Gabrielle also insisted that the school created a hostile learning environment for her son and is seeking relief due to monetary damages as well as the mental and psychological toll the ordeal took on the two of them.
“Defendants, who include a state-funded and sponsored charter school, teachers and senior administrators, have deliberately created a hostile educational environment for plaintiff William Clark, who, unlike his classmates appears to be and is regarded by his peers as white,” the suit claims.
"Plaintiffs also seek monetary damages, including compensatory and punitive damages, for the damage done to William Clark’s future academic and professional prospects, and for the defendants’ deliberate and protracted harassment, emotional abuse, and violation of plaintiffs’ constitutional rights,” the lawsuit continued.
In an interview with Fox News, Gabrielle expressed that she was outraged by her son’s lesson and the values it reflected.
"I tried to instill in all of my children that you need to respect everyone and treat everyone the same … and do what Martin Luther King said. You don't judge people on the color of their skin. You judge them on the content of their character."
Atlanta Black Star reported that an expedited hearing and trial are expected to take place in April.
A Democracy Prep spokesperson responded to the allegations in a statement saying, “Our curriculum teaches students about American democracy and movements for social change throughout our history," according to Atlanta Black Star. "We strongly disagree with how the curriculum has been characterized in this filing.”
