A California family has filed suit against the?Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSA) for numerous racist remarks that were allegedly made in the presence of their mixed-race daughter, who is an eighth grader at?Paul Revere Charter Middle School and Magnet Center in Brentwood.
According to the lawsuit, the teacher, Steven Carnine, gave a questionnaire to his class dealing with racial stereotypes on the day after the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and also made disparaging remarks about the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. As stated in the lawsuit:
?In discussing the incident, Carnine said that the guy was a thug and he got what he deserved.”
Carnine, while discussing former President Abraham Lincoln, also allegedly told students:
?People didn’t like Lincoln because he was a n****r-lover?
On another occasion, the lawsuit states that Carnine told his class:
“We all know Jews like to hoard their money.”
The parents of the mixed-race student who first complained about Carnine say they made their concerns known to Paul Revere Middle School Principal?Christopher Perdigao and were told that Carnine was “old school,” and that the parents should discuss the matter directly with the teacher.
The suit also alleges that Carnine told a class of some 30 students– two of whom were black or mixed-race–that if he were walking alone at night and saw two black men walking behind him he would:
“Be scared?and think they are either going to steal from me or hurt me.”
The parents of the girl state in the suit that she now fears for her safety at school and that she has been “subjected to glares and hostile stares”?from other students as well as from the teacher and principal. It also says:
?Plaintiff has also suffered from sleep problems and anxiety since these incidents arose.”
The parents who filed the suit are seeking unspecified monetary damages from the LAUSA and a court order which would direct the school district to provide all students with? accommodations??free from prohibited discrimination.?
