Black Parents of Cincinnati students file racism suit
/Parents of four black students filed a federal lawsuit against Northwest schools and the Colerain Township Police Department Tuesday alleging their children were kicked out of school and denied due process because of their race.
The $25 million lawsuit alleges the constitutional rights of four Colerain High School students were violated April 10.
That's when school administrators and Colerain Township police allegedly rounded up the students, "held them in a windowless room guarded by armed police officers for upward of six hours and interrogated them" about alleged gang-related affiliations discovered through social media.
Administrators accused more than a dozen students of making "street" signs and belonging to a gang.
The suit alleges white students engaged in similar conduct and were not questioned or disciplined.
"It is not a crime to be an African-American teenager. Yet, on April 10, 2014, Colerain High School administrators in coordination with Colerain Township police officer acted as if it were," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit says the allegations were unfounded and the school district violated the students' right to free speech, to be free of unreasonable search and seizure and said it violated their due-process rights. It also said the students were harassed by the district and forbidden from participating in extra-curricular activities once they returned to school.
