ATLANTA (AP) — Several Black students who were suspended for trying to protest Confederate flag displays at their school in Georgia have filed a federal lawsuit against their school district and its board members, accusing them of allowing an extensive pattern of racism including “overt bigotry and animosity by some white students and teachers against African American students.”
Highlights
- Lawsuit filed against school district and its board members in Georgia.
- Accuses them of allowing an extensive pattern of racism including “overt bigotry and animosity by some white students and teachers against African American students’ students.
- Suit says students are banned from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, but Confederate flag apparel is acceptable under the school’s dress code.
- Lawsuit: Students were not allowed to wear the Confederate flag on campus, but not to wear it on black clothing.
- Plaintiffs demand that the school district be blocked from further punishing the students because of their speech, remove prior punishments from school records and pay money damages.
- About 10% of Coosa High School’s more than 800 students are Black.