A Georgia school district is being sued for banning students from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts on campus.
The lawsuit was filed by three high school students last week in the U.S. District Court against the district and school officials in Effingham County.
In the complaint, the students claim that the ban is part of a pattern of discrimination and “deliberate indifference to acts of racial animosity” towards black students, according to a report from News Channel 9.
The students claim that the school banned Black Lives Matter shirts by citing a districtwide policy prohibiting clothing that “may contribute to disruption,” but allows shirts featuring Confederate flags.
Savannah Now reports that the complaint also contains a long list of discrimination complaints, including “two students scrawling racial epithet across lockers in the baseball locker room; a noose being hung in the football locker room; students wearing Confederate flag attire; a white student wearing a full Hitler costume during spirit week after obtaining prior approval from a teacher; white students' open use of racial slurs including ‘n-----’; overtly racist remarks by a white teacher and open and notorious display of Confederate flags in the building.”
"In one instance, a black student was refused entry to a football game because she was wearing a ‘Black Lives Matter’ shirt; and was advised that she could not enter with it on," the complaint continued. "However, a white student was allowed entry at the very same event with a shirt that read, ‘Stomp on My Flag; I'll Stomp Your A**’. There were no repercussions for that white student."
In 2021, Clint Tawes, a former American literature teacher in Effingham County, resigned after allegedly being told that discussions about politics and controversial issues like Black Lives Matter have no place being discussed in the school.
The mother of one of the teenage plaintiffs is acting as the students' attorney.
Effingham County School Superintendent Yancy Ford told Savannah Now that "neither the School District nor other named defendants have been served with the lawsuit at this time. Once we have been served, a response to the allegations will be filed in accordance with the rules and procedures of the court."
