Racial Harassment Case at Michigan School Highlights Ongoing Challenges

The Education Department had been engaging with multiple school districts by the end of the Biden administration. Progress on these matters has been limited since the president assumed office.

A Michigan mother has reported to the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights concerning racial harassment directed at her middle-school daughter. She states that this mistreatment has severely impacted her child’s well-being.

By the time Black History Month was observed at Chesaning Middle School in central Michigan in 2024, the sole Black female student in the fifth grade had already faced a series of racial insults. During bus rides, students insulted her by referring to her with derogatory terms such as “monkey.” They also used the n-word and mocked her by saying her skin was “burnt like a piece of chicken.”