Sherwood Park Elementary School (Photo: WZZM)
A Grand Rapids, Michigan, eighth grader says a white classmate has repeatedly called him the n-word, and the Sherwood Park Middle School administration has done very little to address it.
The student’s parent, Sumayyah Waver, filed a lawsuit Thursday that would finally create some solutions. According to attorney Nakisha Chaney, “since early September 2015, a Caucasian classmate openly calls S.W. ‘n—–,’ in the classroom, often on a daily basis.”
Mlive reports that the student was reprimanded for calling out the allegations, while the white student faced little to no punishment for using the racial slur.
Grand Rapids Public Schools released a statement in regards to the pending lawsuit:
“We are aware of the lawsuit that was filed today, but have not been formally served. Our legal counsel will be reviewing the suit and will respond accordingly. Beyond that, we are not commenting on pending litigation at this time.”
The lawsuit goes into detail about the racial allegations and the lack of administrative assistance the student received. Chaney writes:
“Ms. Waver responded that ‘this has got completely out of control’ and expressed concern that (her son) would be penalized for opposing his Caucasian classmate’s reference to him as a (n——),’ stating, ‘(Her son) will get a level drop for yelling at (the other student) to stop, but something needs to be done about (her son) being called a n—– daily,’ “
This situation has gone on for months. Around October 6 of last year, Waver said she began to contact the special education supervisor about her son’s abuse. At the time, the principal and assistant principal were well aware of the situation but failed to take action, she said.
