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A 17-year-old Michigan girl was subjected to repeated racist taunting and harassment at school, according to a lawsuit.
Clara Malick and her parents, Rob and April Malick, sat down with Detroit News to detail her experience at Croswell-Lexington High School in Croswell, Michigan in 2021.
Clara said her white classmates repeatedly called her the N-word and threatened to pull her hair out. Peers allegedly told her: “I’m going to snatch your weave and burn it” and “I bet your hair is dead.”
According to Clara, students also taunted her frequently, saying “Go back to the plantation and pick cotton” and “Your hair looks like s—t.”
“Two students were mocking C.M. and using the n-word in Snapchat conversation. C.M. told them ‘STOP, it’s…not funny’ and explained the history behind the word. One student responded, “free speech, n—a,” according to the lawsuit.
Clara was also allegedly told: “All the n—s will be shot after school today at 3:00 pm.”
Following the threat, a teacher was supposed to walk Clara to class to protect her but was allegedly heard accusing the student of “playing the race card," “which is what Blacks do.”
Other faculty members allegedly called Black Lives Matter a “terrorist organization” and told Clara that “not all racists are bad people."
In November 2021, the Malicks filed a racial discrimination complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. The school board later passed a resolution to “reaffirm the commitment” to its anti-discrimination policy.
However, days after the school board meeting, Clara said a white student told her: “I hate all you Black b—hes.” Another student allegedly aimed a slingshot with scissors at her head and threatened to cut her with a knife, prompting the Malicks to file a police report.
The school district, Croswell-Lexington Board of Education, Principal Kyle Wood, and the superintendent of schools, Dan Gilbertson, are all named in a lawsuit filed by the Malicks in May 2022.
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