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White New Jersey student grabbed black classmate’s backpack by the strings and said, ‘I have a slave on a leash,’ lawsuit alleges

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Two black people say their former highschool in rural New Jersey had an “extreme, egregious, pervasive” racist culture that forced certainly one of them to drop out to flee hostility and discrimination.

According to the New Jersey Herald, two former North Warren Regional High School students have filed a lawsuit in the District Court of New Jersey against the school, its board of education and 4 district employees.

They say they experienced a culture of racism for years that was so “ingrained” in the North Warren Regional School District that they were subjected to intolerance, ridicule and intimidation that was “allowed to take root and flourish.”

North Warren Regional School District in Blairstown, New Jersey. (Photo: North Warren Regional School District website)

Both plaintiffs, a black woman and a black man who attended the school in 2016 and 2018 respectively, testified that other students continuously called them the N-word and other slurs, to which school officials didn’t respond.

In one momenthe told in the lawsuitA black student testified that in 2016, a white student grabbed her by the strings of her backpack in the hallway in front of other students and said, “Look, I have a slave on a leash.”

Not only did the incident leave her “terrified,” but when she reported the matter to the school’s anti-bullying coordinator, Tina Richie, the coordinator allegedly tasked her with creating a curriculum for brand new students.

According to her claims, after she joined the school’s cross-country team, her teammates recurrently hurled racial slurs at her and refused to stop when she confronted them. Her hair was also the subject of attention and unwarranted harassment. According to the lawsuit, several students made fun of her hair since it was different from theirs, and a teacher once asked her if it was a wig in front of her classmates.

According to the grievance, a black student alleges that in October 2018, a white student called him a “slave” while he was changing in the boys’ locker room at a gym and then hit him in the back of the leg with a belt, causing him to suffer a laceration.

That same yr, students approached him and showed him a poster urging him to affix the “KKK,” which they called the “Kool Kids Club,” he claims.

During his time on the school wrestling team, his teammates repeatedly called him slurs, even in front of his coach and other faculty members. Some students even created a Snapchat group in 2021 where they discussed what slurs to make use of against him.

“The horrific reality was that multiple students at the school routinely called (the black student) the N-word and did so with ease as they passed each other in the hallways, in the cafeteria, on the bus, in class, and at sporting events,” the grievance reads.

The lawsuit also details other horrific incidents he experienced on the team. During one match, one other wrestler compared him to George Floyd. During one other wrestling match, his teammates knelt on the floor, made a black power fist check in imitation of former football player Colin Kaepernick, then modified their hand signals and did a Nazi salute, which they found “amusing,” the lawsuit states.

In one other incident that was also “subject to entertainment,” a black student’s teammates tackled him to the ground while giving a Nazi salute, and certainly one of them “pretended to rape him.” The lawsuit says the incident was recorded on someone’s cellphone.

The student’s mother spoke to wrestling coach Kellen Bradley multiple times to get him to handle the harassment and assault, but to no avail. According to the grievance, Bradley only responded “generally” to her complaints and took no motion to stop the harassment or punish the bullies.

The spite and bigotry that Black students experienced caused them great distress and mental anguish, based on the lawsuit. The Black student desired to drop out of highschool in 2020 but stayed when the COVID-19 crisis moved classes online. She will graduate in 2022.

The Black student quit the wrestling team on February 14, 2022, and withdrew from the school on February 28, 2022, several weeks after his mother filed a formal HIB (harassment, intimidation, abuse) grievance.

The district’s then-superintendent, Sarah Bilotti, later notified the student’s mother that six students had been suspended after the district found they’d violated the school’s HIB policy. The parent then met with multiple administrators, asking for a plan and timeline to stop racial harassment at the school, but then-principal Jeanene Dutt told her, “No,” the grievance said.

Dutt is currently the superintendent of the North Warren Regional School District.

In response to the lawsuit, she issued a statement saying, “Out of respect for students’ rights to confidentiality, we cannot comment to the press other than to say that we respectfully disagree with the claims and intend to defend against them in court.”

The lawsuit names Dutt, Tina Richie, Sarah Bilotti and Bradley as defendants, alleging they knew the school was rife with racist behavior that “transcends all bounds of human decency” but did nothing to stop it.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are looking for unspecified damages for severe mental suffering and physical and psychological injuries.

North Warren Regional School District is positioned in Blairstown, New Jersey, greater than 50 miles west of Newark, and serves students in grades seven through 12. During the 2016–2017 school yr, it had 879 students.

The Herald reports that the black student was certainly one of five black students in her class and certainly one of 18 black children at the school when she enrolled in the district in 2017. When the black student enrolled in the school in 2018, he was certainly one of only two black children in his class and certainly one of 19 at the school.

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Politics and Current

Kamala Harris Recognized for Her Spotlight on Race and Reparations During NABJ-WHYY Interview

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Kamala Harris, theGriio.com

In a wide-ranging interview with the National Association of Black Journalists and public radio station WHYY, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke more broadly about race than at some other time since becoming a presidential candidate and then the Democratic Party nominee.

The historic presidential figure (Harris is the primary Black woman and Indian-American to be nominated by a significant party) made her first appearance as vice chairman on the difficulty of reparations and outlined the systemic harms inflicted on Black communities by U.S. history, including African-American slavery and racial oppression.

“We need to tell the truth in a way that leads to solutions,” said Harris, who co-sponsored HR40 when she was a U.S. senator.

While members of the Congressional Black Caucus and advocates have called on President Joe Biden to take executive motion within the absence of three many years of inaction on Capitol Hill, the presidential candidate has signaled she believes it should come through Congress. She cited Congress’s ability to carry hearings and “raise awareness” in regards to the history of slavery and racial discrimination.

However, the vice chairman added: “I am not downplaying the significance of any executive action.”

Referring to her economic plan if she wins the White House in November, Harris said her ideas for creating an “opportunity economy” would aim to “explicitly address the obstacles that exist historically and currently” in areas similar to student loan debt, health care debt, biased home valuations and black maternal mortality.

Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (left) is interviewed by National Association of Black Journalists members Gerren Keith Gaynor (far right), Eugene Daniels (second from right) and Tonya Mosley (third from right) on the WHYY studios in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

“I am pleased that Vice President Harris has recognized the important role truth plays in our pursuit of racial healing and transformation,” said Lee. “My legislation to establish a Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation would usher in a moment of truth-telling by educating and informing the public about the historical context of the racial inequities we witness every day.”

But Hunter said that despite Harris’ clear preference for congressional motion on the commission’s creation, such a commission through executive motion “could be a source of legislative policy.” He continued,

Political pundit and radio host Reeta Colbert admitted that Harris “hung around” during her CNN interview and presidential debate with Trump to discuss her racial identity.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Airlines forces 14-year-old girl off plane due to weight and balance issues, leaving her to fend for herself

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The mother of a teen who was banned from a plane in Canada due to a weight imbalance is outraged at how the incident has put her daughter’s safety in danger.

According to the CBC, 14-year-old Camryn Larkan boarded a Porter Airlines flight home from Toronto to Victoria, British Columbia, on August 30 after visiting family and friends. Once she was seated on the plane, a flight attendant approached her and told her she had to get off the plane.

14-year-old stuck at the airport
14-year-old forced to leave plane due to “weight and balance” issues. (Source: Pexels)

“I was a little disoriented… I thought I was going to go back to my seat. I thought they were just going to take my bags.” – Camryn he said CBC. “As soon as I got off the plane and saw the doors close, that’s when I started, you know, getting really concerned.”

Porter Airlines pulled Camryn from the flight due to a “weight and balance issue.” The airline said agents asked for volunteers, but when nobody got here forward, “passengers were selected based on ticket type.”

After Camryn and several other passengers were asked to leave the plane, a Porter Airlines agent arranged for Camryn to fly to Victoria the subsequent day. Camryn immediately called her father, who got here to pick her up on the airport.

Camryn’s mother expressed her frustration, saying the airline completely mishandled her daughter’s exit from the plane.

“They put my child in immediate danger,” Catherine Larkan said. “It was complete neglect and it shouldn’t happen to any other minor.”

The airline’s policy is that unaccompanied minors are exempt from involuntary disembarkation. The company offers a $100 service plan for children traveling alone. The plan is required for children ages 8 to 11 and optional for children ages 12 to 17.

Camryn’s family didn’t know the service existed, so the airline treated the 14-year-old as an adult.

“At the time, our team was unaware that Camryn was a minor,” a Porter Airlines spokesperson said. “Camryn left the airport quickly and our team had limited ability to discuss options with her.”

Children travelling without an unaccompanied minor plan are considered “independent adults” and are subject to “adult passenger considerations such as weight, balance and unloading situations.”

“They provide a service, saying we know these people are at risk, and they say if you don’t pay for the service, you’re going to be treated like any other adult passenger traveling,” Camryn’s mother said. “It’s just absolutely absurd.”

An airline representative told People magazine that its customer support department is in touch with Camryn’s family and that Porter Airlines is working on solutions to minimize the chance of an incident like this happening again.

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Here’s What You Need to Know About Threats in Springfield, Ohio, After False Accusations About Haitian Immigrants

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Haitian immigrants in Springfield Ohio, theGrio.com

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A small Ohio town has been flooded with false bomb threats since last week’s presidential debate, when former President Donald Trump falsely accused Members of Springfield’s Haitian community kidnap and eat cats and dogs.

Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, has amplified debunked web rumors about Haitian migrants because the Republican ticket criticizes President Joe Biden’s administration’s immigration policies, which Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, supports. City officials acknowledge that the influx of about 15,000 Haitian migrants is causing problems, but say there is no such thing as a evidence to support the claim that they’re eating people’s pets.

More than 30 bomb threats since last week have targeted schools, government buildings and the homes of city officials, forcing evacuations and closures. Springfield also canceled its annual diversity, arts and culture celebration in response to the threats, and state police on Tuesday distributed in city schools.

Here are some things to know concerning the situation in Springfield:

Who is behind these false threats?

Foreign actors, in particular. That’s according to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who said many of the threats got here from abroad. The governor’s office said a criminal investigation by multiple law enforcement agencies found the “vast majority” of the threats were international in origin. Officials didn’t provide further details on how investigators determined they got here from a foreign country, and DeWine didn’t name the country.

What’s happening?

DeWine has sent dozens of Ohio State Highway Patrol members to all 18 city schools, where checks might be conducted twice every day to prevent further disruptions and help parents and students ensure that the buildings are secure. But even with the increased police presence, many parents still didn’t let their children go to school Tuesday.

Meanwhile, security cameras have been placed at strategic locations around the town, and an explosives-sniffing dog has been deployed to Springfield and might be on duty 24 hours a day.

DeWine $2.5 million declared greater than two years to increase support for primary health care. State highway patrol also helps local law enforcement implement traffic laws. DeWine said many Haitians are inexperienced drivers who’re unfamiliar with U.S. traffic laws.

How is the town reacting?

Springfield never wanted to be the focus — not like this.

City officials said Tuesday that misinformation and lies about Haitian immigrants have sown fear and division, disrupted science and price taxpayers money. In an announcement, they implored public figures, community members and media to “move beyond divisive rhetoric and instead work to promote unity, understanding and respect.” The statement didn’t mention Trump or Vance by name.

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said the influx of migrants is straining police, hospitals and schools. He also criticized the federal government, saying the town asked for help months ago. But on Tuesday he urged national leaders to “soften their words and speak the truth.”

Why did so many Haitians move to Springfield?

Work and word of mouth.

Springfield in consequence, industrial jobs were lost and the population dropped significantly late last century. But the town made a concerted effort to attract employers and Haitian immigrants who helped meet the growing demand for employees in its factories and warehouses. Word spread, and Haitians began arriving in larger numbers in the past few years.

Haitians from Springfield and elsewhere have come to the U.S. to escape violence in their home country. Many Haitians are here under a federal program called Temporary Protected Statusallowing them to live and work temporarily in the U.S. because conditions in Haiti are deemed too dangerous for them to return to the island.

What do Haitian immigrants say?

Members of the Haitian community say they were uneasy even before Trump and Vance picked up on the pet-eating lies, as former residents were angered by the brand new arrivals’ impact on jobs, housing and traffic.

“Some of them are talking about living in fear. Some of them are afraid for their lives,” Rose-Thamar Joseph said last week on the Springfield Haitian Community Outreach and Support Center.

On church service on Sunday, Mia Perez said her daughter was evacuated from school twice last week.

“Children at school are asked by other children, ‘What does dog taste like? What does cat taste like?'” Perez said. “She asks, ‘Are we Haitians who eat this stuff? Is it true? What’s going on?'”

“It’s a conversation I wasn’t ready to have with my daughter,” Perez said. “I felt disrespected by our culture.”

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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