The mother of two middle schoolers in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, says her daughters were subjected to racial harassment and discrimination in a series of provocative incidents that led her to pursue legal action.
Named in Candace Ward’s 17-page lawsuit: the Oak Park Board of Education, two teachers at Edward Julian Middle School and the school’s principal were accused of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, according to a lawsuit obtained by Atlanta Black Star.
The suit references an incident that went viral in April after Ward posted a photo on social media showing a bag of cotton seeds that her seventh-grade daughter had received from her white social science teacher. According to the post, only Black students were given the seeds, which caused a furor. District officials said they received threats of violence and implemented a lockdown at the school.
The suit also claims one of her girls was called the N-word by another student who was not punished for it. Ward’s daughters later confronted the student who allegedly used the epithet and slapped him, for which one of the girls was suspended and placed in what the plaintiff described as a “closet” during her punishment,” Fox 32 reports.
Ward says she visited the school following the incidents with her daughters and was arrested and charged. Details of her arrest have not been made available, though, in remarks made to the Oak Park Board of Education in August 2023, Ward said she was arrested for not giving notice of her presence at the school. She said she had gone to the school because she had not been informed of her daughter’s suspension.
Ward’s mother, Yvette Stringer, also spoke before the board, alleging she was forced to leave a school function.
“I was told by a police officer, no one related to Candace should be in the school,” Stringer said. “I always attend these open houses with my grandkids. I was never told I needed permission.”
Oak Park is a Chicago suburb known for its ethnic diversity and progressive politics. About 18 percent of its population is African-American.
“I thought Oak Park was diverse?” one local responded to a news package about the lawsuit. “This is ridiculous and I hope her family receives so much money from the lawsuit that the student’s name can be placed on the school,” another person wrote.
The cotton seeds debacle seemed to catch the village’s school district off guard, leading to an investigation into whether “racially insensitive activity was used” in a classroom, according to The Journal of Oak Park and River Forest.
The district’s initial review determined that the bags of cotton were “part of a lesson on the history of the cotton gin and its impact on slavery.” All students participated and a few students asked to take the bags of cotton home, the district found.
“Our expectation is that instruction in our schools reflects the Illinois Learning Standards while also aligning at all times with our commitment to creating a positive and inclusive learning environment for all students,” they said in the statement.
“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,” they read.
In her suit, Ward describes a pattern of racial discrimination and retaliation that her family has faced over the years.
