Black students given bags of cotton during social studies lesson, Illinois lawsuit says
UPDATE: This story has been updated with comments from the family’s attorney.
When a 13-year-old came home from school and showed her mother the bag of cotton she had received from a teacher, her mother took to social media to express her outrage, according to an Illinois lawsuit.
Now, the mother is suing Oak Park District 97 in suburban Chicago and individual administrators and teachers, saying they racially discriminated against her, her 13-year-old and her 11-year-old for three years.
“While the District does not publicly comment on pending legal matters, the District disputes the allegations that are made in this lawsuit and intends to defend itself and its employees against these claims,” an Oak Park Elementary School District 97 spokesperson said in an email to McClatchy News.
The cotton lesson
The teen’s bag of cotton was part of an April social studies lesson at Julian Middle School about slavery and the cotton gin, according to the lawsuit filed Oct. 3.
The cotton was used in an activity where students put their hands in a box to determine what was inside, the lawsuit said. After the activity, the teacher gave the two Black students in the class a bag of cotton, court documents said.
The lawsuit says cotton was not given to any non-Black students.
The mother posted about the incident on Facebook on April 2, then the school’s principal met with the teacher, the parent and other administrators April 5, according to the lawsuit.
During the meeting, he said he was unaware the teacher intended to use cotton in the lesson and said it was not approved for the lesson, according to the lawsuit.
The teacher said she did not believe the use of cotton in the lesson would cause any harm, according to court documents. The teacher had taught the lesson before but without cotton, the lawsuit said.
The teen was removed from the teacher’s class, according to the lawsuit, and the teacher was not reprimanded.
The same day of the meeting, the Oak Park District 97 Board of Education said in a statement that it had received threats in reaction to the mother’s post, which led to the cancellation of after-school activities April 3.
The board said it was investigating and confirmed the cotton was part of the lesson on slavery and the cotton gin.
“While the history of slavery is part of District 97 curriculum, we expect that complex topics such as these are taught with sensitivity and care. In addition, we recognize that special consideration must be given to the experiences of the communities most impacted by the topics that are being taught,” the board said.
Further accusations of discrimination
Following the cotton incident, another white teacher targeted the seventh grader, according to the lawsuit.
While the teen was in the hallway between classes, she saw a male teacher “aggressively” approach her, so she started to move away, according to court documents.
He “nearly cornered” her, the complaint says, then video surveillance showed she rushed past him to try and get away.
But the lawsuit said the teacher reported the teen for assault and said he wanted to press charges. The student was issued a fight ticket, the lawsuit said, which had a $500 fine.
At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, the student got into a fight and the teacher approached her as it happened, the lawsuit said.
She told the teacher she did not want him to touch her, according to court documents.
He said, per the complaint, “You know exactly who the (expletive) I am,” and, “I don’t give a (expletive) what you want.”
The lawsuit referenced two fights involving the oldest daughter and said she had received threats prior to those altercations. The complaint says the school did not protect her.
The family’s attorney, Tishaunda McPherson, told McClatchy News that the teacher should have been reprimanded and not been allowed to interact with the student.
The teen’s younger sister, a fifth grade student at the elementary school, was called a racial slur by a male student, according to the lawsuit. Court documents accuse the school of not disciplining the student or offering her support after it happened.
The student’s mother was then targeted by the school’s principal’s sister after the incident and Facebook post, according to the complaint.
The teacher’s sister contacted the mother’s employer in April and said the parent had “jumped” the teacher, which was false, according to the lawsuit. The sister also threatened to report the parent to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, the lawsuit said.
Lasting Impacts
As a result of the discrimination, the lawsuit says the woman and her two daughters have suffered both physically and emotionally.
“I think people minimize the long, lasting impact that racism (and) discrimination (have) on a student,” McPherson said.
The attorney said the family has been harassed by community members.
The 13-year-old’s mental health has suffered, McPherson said, and both daughters feel unsafe at their school.
“Mom has lost job opportunities because she’s had to go to the school so frequently to ensure that her kids are safe,” McPherson said, adding that a variety of factors prevent the family from changing school districts.
“That’s a privilege that everyone does not have to uproot their family, move them somewhere else,” McPherson said.
Oak Park is about a 10-mile drive west from downtown Chicago.
This story was originally published October 8, 2024 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Black students given bags of cotton during social studies lesson, Illinois lawsuit says."
