High school girls lawsuit ‘racial bullying, harassment’

Attorneys for two Black girls at a Massachusetts high school have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, claiming the students were “relentlessly targeted” during the 2023-2024 school year by racial bullying and harassment while officials looked the other way and never held their peers accountable.
Instead of confronting the pervasive culture of racism, the school’s front office frequently targeted the victims for punishment, including an instance where staff called the police on one of the sisters over a minor altercation, the suit, obtained by Atlanta Black Star alleges.
The complaint calls for a federal investigation into the “racially hostile and unsafe environment” at Millbury Memorial Junior/Senior High School, where only 4.7 percent of the student body identifies as Black, according to the filing.
The girls, ages 13 and 16, allege they were repeatedly targeted with racial slurs by white students, including being called “monkey,” the N-word, and subjected to degrading comments like “Black as f–k,” “ugly,” and “too dark.”
On social media, one of the sisters was told to “go back” to her “motherland.”
The complaint states that Millbury school officials painted the sisters as “dangerous liars” and aggressors in every disciplinary matter, thereby “perpetuating a pattern of disproportionately punishing students of color.”
Additionally, the same girl allegedly faced punishment for tearing up a piece of paper with the N-word written on it, which had allegedly been given to her by a White student.
The complaint also states that the school suspended both sisters on separate occasions without sufficient cause, with one of them receiving a 20-day suspension. Further, it is alleged that the school did not inform the parents of White students about their discriminatory and abusive behavior. In contrast, when the Black sisters reported issues to school officials, they were questioned, doubted, and dismissed.