Politics and Current
White students sent messages fantasizing about killing African Americans while school principals ‘turned a blind eye’ and ignored rampant racism, lawsuit says
A U.S. District Judge has dismissed an attempt by a Colorado high school principal to exonerate himself from a civil rights lawsuit that alleges he was answerable for racially discriminating against black and mixed-race students at his school.
Castle Rock Middle School Principal John Veit argued that as a public official he was entitled to qualified immunity from legal charges that he “failed to prevent a conspiracy” amongst white students on the school to disclaim black students equal protection and access to an education under federal civil rights laws.
The 2023 lawsuit, filed by three families against Veit and the Douglas County School District, detailed horrific incidents of harassment, racial slurs and threats against their children. They alleged that there was a widespread pattern of racism and bullying within the district’s schools, and that school and district staff were aware of the discrimination and harm students were experiencing but didn’t do enough to stop it.
The criticism describes how black and biracial students, including 4 plaintiffs (identified as JG, NG, CM, and DC) at Douglas County High School and Castle Rock Middle School “were routinely called the N-word, threatened with violence such as lynching and shooting, subjected to various jokes about racial and ethnic cleansing, repeatedly called monkeys and similar derogatory epithets, subjected to taunts and other forms of harassment by peers, and forced by teachers to argue the benefits of Jim Crow laws.”
In his ruling last week, U.S. District Judge John Kane found that a federal conspiracy amongst students who were the plaintiffs’ peers was convincingly established by the allegations within the criticism, which “demonstrate a coordinated effort by students to humiliate, terrorize, and alienate” black and mixed-race students.
The judge noted among the allegations, including:
“One woman told four other students in front of CM that she hoped another black student would not join the class because ‘we already have one black guy in this class.’”
“One student called DC ‘monkey boy,’ and other students started laughing.”
“Students asked JG if he had chosen the cotton that his shirt was made of. Another student threw cotton balls at JG, laughing at him.”
“Students took photos of CM using the toilet without his knowledge and shared them widely on the internet.”
“At the end of Black History Month, one of the students approached JG and told him his month was over and he could go back to where he came from.”
The criticism also alleged that three students were racially harassed via a Snapchat group of greater than 100 students, where “racially offensive comments and threats of murder were common” and that students often tagged black students “to ensure they saw the disgusting messages.”
In one such message, Kane noted, “Two students were talking about eliminating African-Americans from the planet, with one of them stating that we should just remove black people from the planet” and bring back (the Holocaust).
The judge found that “without a doubt the complaint sufficiently proves the existence of … a conspiracy and Mr. Veit’s knowledge of that conspiracy.”
He cited the plaintiffs’ claims that a student had sent Veit an email about racist behavior by students and that after receiving the e-mail, “Mr. Veit admitted that he was aware that students of color experienced such discrimination.”
“I find Mr. Veit’s motion (to dismiss the case) to be without merit and accordingly I deny it,” Kane wrote.
Attorney Iris Halpern, who represents the families, said the court’s decision “should serve as a warning to other school officials across the country: If you know about systematic racist bullying and harassment and have the authority to stop it, and you don’t do it, you are violating our federal civil rights laws and you can be held individually liable,” CPR News reported. “Turning a blind eye or burying your head in the sand is not enough.”
“We are happy that the judge ruled that anyone who played a major role in the horrific racist bullying my children experienced can be held accountable,” said Lacey Ganzy, mother of Jeramiah Ganzy (JG within the lawsuit), who was 14 when he faced racism and bullying at Castle Rock Middle School. “We look forward to the continued development of this case and our final day in court.”
Ganzy said she filed the lawsuit last 12 months after the school district seemed indifferent to complaints from her son, in addition to her daughter Nevaeh, who was attending Douglas County High School on the time. Nevaeh testified at an April 2023 school board meeting that she was often called racial slurs and that a teacher asked her to argue in favor of Jim Crow laws during class. the Douglas County News-Press reported.
Ganza’s family has since moved to a different, “more diverse” school district. Two other student plaintiffs switched to online learning last 12 months but have since returned.
In the spring of 2023, the Douglas County School District was faced with the necessity to reply to the outcomes of the school climate survey.vey, which found wide racial disparities between student groups, CPR News reported.
The study found that 71 percent of white students felt they belonged at their school, while only 56 percent of black students did. Fourteen percent of white students said they’d been bullied on school grounds up to now 12 months, while 24 percent of black students did. And most significantly, 41 percent of black students had been punished, while 16 percent of white students did.
When asked Erin Kane, the school district’s superintendent, what training is being conducted to forestall the occurrence of racism and mitigate the results of systemic racism, she responded that the district is working on training as a part of a multi-year implementation plan.
At a May 2023 school board meeting, Kane said, “I want to reiterate how deeply sorry I am and the entire district is that we had a family experience with racist remarks from another student. Racism in any form is unacceptable in DCSD and is a direct violation of policy,” adding that multiple students have been suspended.
Other officials said students at Castle Rock High School attended presentations on bullying and harassment, and district leaders are working with the school on other strategies for next 12 months.
Ganzy was not impressed.
“I want them to be taught about black history,” she said. “I want them to not tolerate any discrimination. I want teachers to actively seek out this type of discrimination and know how to better deal with it.”
According to the criticism filed in August 2023, every student reported incidents of mistreatment to teachers and school staff, but school district staff either didn’t respond in any respect or didn’t take the reports seriously.
Only one student involved within the group chat was disciplined, and staff did not keep their word and create safety plans for students to return to in-person learning. The criticism also noted that the district did not implement anti-discrimination training for workers or students.
The lawsuit seeks “an injunction enjoining Defendants from engaging in unlawful practices that deprive themselves and other students of color of access to equal educational opportunities” and a jury trial to find out economic, compensatory and punitive damages.
This spring, Ganzy and her teenage children campaigned on the Colorado State Capitol for a recent law that might prevent bullying and discrimination in Colorado schools by improving reporting systems and training staff. CBS News reported.
Bill, SB 23-296that passed in June, “is basically everything we stood for,” Ganzy said. “It just makes sense. It just says, ‘Hey, if you do this, there are consequences for your actions, and there’s education behind it.’”
Ganzy said the bill clearly distinguishes between hate crimes and the bullying she sought. Schools have until July to start implementing the training.
The Douglas County School District said in a June statement that while its anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies “largely align with the requirements” in the brand new laws, it’s “revising the board’s policies in light of the new law to further enhance the safety and well-being of all students.”
In reference to the continued lawsuit, the district stated, “DCSD disputes that administrators either facilitated or permitted harassment and discrimination against African-American students in order to continue attending school, or otherwise tolerated a racially hostile educational environment. Numerous reasonable actions were taken within the scope of the school administrator’s authority.”
Last week, Judge Kane ordered each side within the case to contact his office on August 13 to schedule a hearing date.
The Secretary of Defense Pete HegeSeth on Monday ordered the military lively service to lose 20% of 4 -star general officers, when the Trump administration moves forward with deep cuts, which he thinks will promote performance, but critics that worry may cause more politicized strength.
HegeSeth also told the National Guard to lose 20% of his highest positions and recommend the military to reduce an extra 10% of his general and flagship officers of their forces, which can include one star or official with an equivalent rank of navy.
The cuts are at the top of over half a dozen of the best general officers that President Donald Trump or HegeSeth released from January, including the chairman of the joint heads of the staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr. They also released only two women serving as 4 -star officers, in addition to a disproportionate variety of other older officers.
In earlier rounds of shooting, HegeSth said that the eliminations were “a reflection of the president who wants the right people around him to perform the approach to national security that we want to take.”
As the head of the Pentagon, HegeSeth advertised his efforts to upload any programming or leadership, which support diversity in ranks, tried to end members of transgender services and commenced sweeping changes to implement a uniform fitness standard for the fight position.
In the note announcing the cuts on Monday, HegSeth said that they might remove “unnecessary forces to optimize and improve leadership.” He said that the goal was to free the army from “unnecessary bureaucratic layers.”
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. Marine, who served in Iraq and is now in the Armed Service Committee, said he perceived HegeSetha as trying to politicize the army.
“He creates a formal framework to slow down all generals who disagree with him – and president,” said Multon AP in Capitol.
He said that actually every organization can search for performance, but HegeSeth has been clearly clearly expressing its program. “He wrote a book about it. He wants to politicize the army,” said Multon. “So it’s hard to see these cuts in any other context.”
Multon warned against the fall of the soldiers. “It is necessary for our soldiers to understand that they receive constitutional orders, not political orders,” he said, “otherwise you have no democracy, otherwise you have an army that works well for one or another political party.”
Adding to the confusion in the Pentagon, HegeSeth in recent weeks I actually have released or moved many close advisersstrongly narrowing his inner circle. He also handled questions from each Democrats and Republicans about coping with sensitive information and the use of applications for sending signal messages.
There are about 800 general officers in the army, but only 44 of them are 4 -star general or flag officials. The army has the largest variety of general officers, from 219, including eight 4 -star generals.
The variety of positions of the general officer in the army is set by law. Congress members didn’t receive a notification upfront, which they might normally receive in cuts, but in the afternoon they received a “very short warning”, according to a congress worker, which spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that weren’t made public.
The cuts were first reported by CNN.
The Pentagon is under pressure to reduce expenses and staff as a part of wider cuts of the federal government pushed by the Department of the Government of Trump and Ally Elon Musk.
HegeSeth last week ordered a sweeping transformation Army to “build a slim, more deadly force”, including connecting or closing the headquarters, shedding outdated vehicles and aircraft, cutting up to 1,000 employees of the headquarters in the Pentagon and transfer of staff to units in the field.
Also last week, the army confirmed that it could be Military Parade for Trump’s birthday In June, as a part of the celebration of the 250th birthday of the service. Officials say it would cost tens of tens of millions of dollars.
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Associated Press Writers Lisa Mascaro and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.
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The city of Decatur in Metro Atlanta unanimously approved the creation of a compensation task group.
According to Decatur City Commission adopted a resolution On May 5, the 11-person task group will publish a report in three years, including recommendations regarding policy for black city residents.
The message appears a yr after the city leaders signed a contract with Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights to “discover the heritage of racial damage” in Decatur. The alliance managed research work in the field of compensation, organizing community meetings and listening sessions about how racial injustice has financially and systematically hurt these residents.
Their research described the role of decatur in slavery and segregation, in addition to red and real estate against the black community. Decatur also showed many monuments of the confederation, especially one earlier in the court of Dekalb.
The city not only recognized its oppressive tactics towards its black inhabitants, but additionally apologized for the actions that suppressed their progress.
“The city of Decatur formally recognizes its earlier role in the systemic oppression of people of African origin through enslavement, trafficking in human beings, conviction, discriminatory zones and development, underestimation in African -American communities, school segregation, racist police operation, destruction of African American estate, business and institutions and erosion and erosion and erosion and erosion, population, population population, population, population, population, population and culture – we read in resolution.
The city goals to designate 11 members, with the help of Beacon Hill Black Alliance, in the next 60 days. They will bring a various specialist knowledge group, and members consist of historians, legal experts and youth supporters. Over the next three years, the Task group will develop records regarding the loss of black land and real estate, being attentive to economic resettlement, while interviewing the descendants of those to which these oppressive tactics affected.
City officials added: “The city is expanding the full and public apology to the black residents of Decatur – Past and Present – and their descendants for its role in consolidating discrimination, pressure, subordination and the resulting damage, drawing on the principles rooted in the white supremacy system.”
The Compensation Task Group may even propose the commemorative projects sponsored by the city, economic tools and other investment strategies and community initiatives to treatment its racist past. This move will happen from other communities, even in the Atlanta Metro, which introduced initiatives regarding the repair of black residents. In the neighboring Fulton, his task group will resume the meeting this yr.
While the plan appears amongst the domestic shuffle of anti-dei attributable to the Trump administration, local leaders remain involved in the same efforts of the judiciary that began before taking office by Trump.
(Tagstranslate) compensation Task group
Politics and Current
Social media reacts to a series of funny faces of George W. Bush during the inauguration of Trump, when Barack Obama jokes that “he could barely behave
Former President Barack Obama jokingly told the reporter that former President George W. Bush “barely” behaved during the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday.
When there have been presidents and other noteworthy VIP guests waited for the USA ceremony to sit in the US Capitol, a member of the staff asked 78-year-old Bush if he “behaved” and 63-year-old Obama at the back to answer on behalf of Bush with “No”.
A brief, viral clip shows briefly looking around the Capitol and smiling at the members of the audience during the inauguration, which the viewers considered funny.
When Obama left the American Capitol Rotunda after the ceremony, the same post reporter quickly asked Obama if Bush behaved and Obama replied: “barely” during a smile.
The viewers had a day in the field with many Bush faces. One person joked: “Bro was beyond his mind”
The secular behavior of former presidents was, unlike incorrect boos imposed on Obama by Trump’s supporters watching the ceremony from the rally at the Capital One Arena in the center of Washington. Bill and Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Trump Mike Pence was also not spared heavy Boos.
The first lady Michelle Obama was noticeably missing amongst the chosen group of former residents of the White House, who confirmed that she wouldn’t participate on the days before the inauguration.
About her absence, unidentified source he said People: “There is no exaggeration of her feelings about (Trump). She is not one of the plasters on a pleasant face and she pretended that the Michelle protocol does nothing, because she is expected, protocol or its tradition.”
The source said that Michelle “no longer feels the need to be public” and added that the verbal attacks of Trump on Obama and his offensive rhetoric addressed to colourful people could even be a factor wherein she decided to skip.
In addition to Michelle, every living former president and the first lady was present, including former President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden, George W. Bush and Laura Bush, in addition to Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s swearing in the US Capitol for the first time in 40 years, the presidential inauguration took place, ignoring the customary configuration outside the Capitol, wherein 1000’s normally observe from the national shopping mall.
Officials stated that the polar vortex, which brought dangerously low temperatures to the part of the eastern coast, was the most important reason why the ceremony was moved inside.
The last time the inauguration was moved in the room, when former President Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his second term in 1985.
(Tagstranslate) Barack Obama
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