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Although publicly advertised as “One of the Best Public Schools in Michigan,” Bloomfield Hills is at the center of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit sparked by one student who says her high school is filled with unchecked racist behavior from students and staff alike.

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The $150 million federal class-action racial discrimination lawsuit was filed on behalf of a 15-year-old girl and her parents against the school district, superintendent Patrick Watson and high school principal Charlie Hollerith. The family claims that Bloomfield Hills High School is a breeding ground for racially-motivated incidents of discrimination, with their attorney writing in the suit, “As students of color, Plaintiffs and their parents have experienced racist, unfair, hurtful and at times dangerous interactions at BHHS at the hands of both white staff and students.”

Take a look below at some of the things Black and POC students had to endure at BHHS according to the lawsuit, via  ClickOnDetroit:

“The instances of racism reported at the high school were laid out in the lawsuit, with several photos taken from students’ social media accounts included as evidence.

One photo shows a Black doll with a noose around its neck, hanging from the second floor down to the first floor.

Other photos depict racist writing on bathroom walls in the school. One message read ‘kill all (n-word),’ while another read ‘all the (n-word) should be dead.’

There’s also a Snapchat photo from a student in the lawsuit, showing writing that reads ‘I hate (n-word), they need to be extinguished.’

The lawsuit claims that the school district and its administrators are not handling the situation at all.

‘Despite being notified of race discrimination and related injustices by students and parents, Defendant has failed and continues to fail to take steps reasonably calculated to stop the discrimination and ensure Plaintiff’s safety,’ the lawsuit reads.”

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A school board meeting was held last week by the district following a student walkout in protest of the racist incidents, with many parents getting very vocal about what they feel is injustice towards their children.

A lawsuit of that magnitude could go in one of a handful of ways, but ultimately we hope it at least leads to some kind of change in the Bloomfield Hills school system as it relates to race relations.

 

Michigan Student Hits Bloomfield Hills School District With $150M Racial Discrimination Lawsuit  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com