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Jewish school tried to push out black teen, lawsuit claims

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D

Dram

Member
http://www.suntimes.com/photos/gall...ed-to-push-out-black-teen-lawsuit-claims.html

Fourteen-year old Larry “Max” Saulsberry didn’t go to school this week, though it wasn’t because of a teachers strike.

The one-time student from Hyde Park has yet to see the inside of a classroom this school year because of what his mother calls a racial dispute that’s landed in the courts and has pit her family against the boy’s private Jewish day school.

Last week, Tamara McCullough sued Akiba Schechter Jewish Day School, claiming the principal didn’t re-enroll her son because he’s male and black.

Simmering tensions between the family and the Hyde Park school nearly turned to a boil last year when staff turned a blind eye to a racial epithet allegedly hurled at Max, McCullough alleges in the lawsuit and also told the Sun-Times in an interview.

“When another student called Max a ... racial insult, the chool refused to discipline the student,” the lawsuit filed in Cook County circuit court states. “When Max wanted to run for student body president, a teacher told Max only a white student could be student body president.” The suit also claims that Max wasn’t given a math textbook in seventh grade, “resulting in his receiving poor math grades.”

The suit also states the school’s principal, Miriam Schiller, called the family’s rabbi in hopes the rabbi could dissuade the family from enrolling Max in sixth and seventh grade at Akiba. “Schiller called Max’s rabbi, Capers Funnye, and asked him to advise MAX not to enroll for his sixth grade school year, stating Max would not be a ‘good fit,’” the lawsuit states.

The family sent him back to school that year anyway. But Schiller allegedly called Funnye again before the 2011-12 school year with the same request.

Schiller didn’t respond to requests for comment. A school board member also couldn’t be reached

McCullough, who is an alum of the school, is puzzled by the treatment of her son.

She said it was always a diverse school when she attended, and her 16-year-old daughter also was a student. The suit claims the student body was one-third black about 25 years ago, but as of last year, her son and one other students were the only African Americans.

Despite the alleged problems, in April, McCullough said she paid the re-enrollment fee for the coming school year.

But as the Aug. 27th start date approached, McCullough became concerned she hadn’t received a re-enrollment packet. She called Aug. 20, but didn’t hear back from the principal until Aug. 24, when the two had what McCullough described as a terse exchange.

Schiller said she “did not believe Max was returning,” the suit claims. When McCullough said he was, the principal then instructed her to pay $9,260 to enroll Max, but said he would have to repeat seventh grade. McCullough agreed to both.

“Schiller then said Max doesn’t belong here, and he is not a good fit,” the lawsuit alleges. Later that day, the suit continues, “Schiller called back and said, ‘We don’t have room for Max in this school.’”

Max said in a phone interview Friday he believes the problems come down to race.

“They don’t want me back in because of the whole African-American thing. At first I didn’t want to think like that but now I think it’s because I’m an African-American male,” he told the Sun-Times.

“They treat me different — at least different from African-American girls. They don’t treat me bad, but they don’t treat me well, either. They treat me like I’m invisible.”

More than anything, he misses his pals. That hit home little more than a week ago when he celebrated his bar mitzvah, the ceremony and celebration of marching into adulthood in the Jewish faith, with old school chums.

McCullough’s attorney filed for an injunction on Thursday, detailing the alleged discrimination and asking a judge to order the school to re-enroll the teen and treat him fairly.
Click to expand...
 
shira

shira

Member
Choose a different school ffs?
Why would you screw your kid out of an education AND pay for it.
Just find a different private school.
 
Y

You Are Viewtiful

Member
shira said:
Choose a different school ffs?
Why would you screw your kid out of an education AND pay for it.
Just find a different private school.
Click to expand...
Yep she should do this, while still suing the school. Some people should be spending prison time IMO god knows how many other lives they ruined to get the black population to drop from 250 to 1.
 
A

antonz

Member
Metrotab said:
What surprises me, is that this happened in a school which was formerly diverse. They reverted back.
Click to expand...

I am guessing diversity was lost to expense over time. I imagine this private school is charging a hell of a lot more than it was 25 years ago. When you see the kind of money a public school teacher is bringing in working in Chicago I imagine its even higher there.

Diversity drops and then intolerance grows as the students adjust to the lack of diversity.
 
T

Tuck

Member
shira said:
Choose a different school ffs?
Why would you screw your kid out of an education AND pay for it.
Just find a different private school.
Click to expand...

Yeah.

Don't get me wrong - she should sue the school for every penny they're worth. But clearly the school doesn't want him and it is affecting his education.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Right.

Clearly the problem isn't the racism. Clearly the problem is the parent not giving in to the racism and abandoning the school.

The fuck is wrong with you people?
 
T

theignoramus

Member
lol, 80% of the comments on this article at Sun Times were censored and the rest claim the kid must have some kind of behavioural issue. people get goddamn mad when a minority claims racial bias. the nerve of them uppity coloureds, challenging your world view.
 
Joel Was Right

Joel Was Right

Gold Member
“They treat me different — at least different from African-American girls. They don’t treat me bad, but they don’t treat me well, either. They treat me like I’m invisible.”
Click to expand...
If it's a racial issue, then why are there other black students seemingly treated fine?
 
H

Huff

Banned
thread title made me think they literally pushed him off the school property.

the dude is jewish and there are other african american's at the school. fucking stupid school
 
G

GDGF

Soothsayer
I wanted to go to Hebrew school when I was a kid. Seemed so different and exciting :)

Anyway, yeah, she should pull her kid out of that shit and then file a lawsuit.
 
Joel Was Right

Joel Was Right

Gold Member
Htown said:
Only one other black student at the school, dude.

Also, what would it take to make you believe that this is racially motivated?
Click to expand...

I'm confused. There are quotes in that article that state there are only two black students, yet the kid is saying he is treated differently at the school than the black girls; a plural.
 
S

SniperHunter

Banned
I just got done watching a World War 2 documentary on Netflix, it was rather eye opening. I can't believe this...these people who suffered so much are now racists themselves. It is very sad....

Btw this isn't an isolated incident, a couple of months ago Israelis destroyed shops belonging to African migrants and demanded they be deported. Sad situation all around.
 
R

Reuenthal

Banned
shira said:
Well school is time based. A lawsuit would take years and thousands of dollars.
Click to expand...

A lawsuit and some publicity can potentially cause some change so there is a positive in addition to purely helping this one student. Although eliminating even a little racism against his race would be helping him as well.

But if possible both a lawsuit + shaming them and if they think it is the best for the kid changing schools would not be a bad idea. It is not necessary one or the other.
 
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