Williamsburg County schools settle with students over same-race discrimination

[paulsby]

interesting case. the articles states this may be the first title VI case EVER filed based on INTRA-racial harassment.

good reading...
http://www.dolanmedia.com/view.cfm?recID=552049
COLUMBIA, SC -- Two Williamsburg County students and members of their family have reached a $150,000 settlement in what may be the first Title VI lawsuit based on claims of intra-racial discrimination in South Carolina public schools. Lawrence "Larry" Kobrovsky, a Charleston attorney who focuses his practice on constitutional law and school issues, said the parties settled after a female student's claims of sexual and racial harassment at a Salters school went to trial in U.S. District Court in Florence. The suit was one of two against the Williamsburg County School District and school officials. The other suit, filed on behalf of the student's uncle, was dismissed.

Both students were members of an African-American family that shared a home in rural Williamsburg County. Both attended public schools at the time of the alleged harassment. The trial lasted two days, but the case never went to the jury.

Instead, the trial ended after the uncle testified. The next day, a settlement offer was on the table, Kobrovsky said. "He gives a pretty raw and kind of unvarnished version of what it's like to live in rural Williamsburg County and how the races interact and are separate, which is kind of a world apart. People who aren't living there don't see that," Kobrovsky said. The two students each received $50,000, and two family members who filed the suits on their behalf received $25,000 apiece, according to Kobrovsky. The settlements were reported to South Carolina Lawyers Weekly last week.

The cases were Gasque, et al. v. Williamsburg County School District et al., Civil Action No. 4:07-CV-01757-RBH; and Gasque v. Williamsburg County School District, et al., Civil Action No. 4:07-CV-1765-RBH.
Title VI prohibits allowing a racially hostile educational environment in schools and programs receiving federal financial assistance and provides for a private cause of action for violations.

[Obamanaut]

1. That is interesting. One wonders if that behavior is more common

than we hear about.

rec because it's interesting

[paulsby]

2. you hear those stories

where black kids are chided by other black kids for "acting white" by trying hard to get good grades, etc. everybody from cosby to cornell west has commented on it.

these kids CLEARLY took it to an extreme.

[ljm2002]

3. That really is an unexpected twist...

...thanks for posting.