Federal authorities investigate complaint of ‘racially hostile environment’ at Michigan school

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Paw Paw High School Redskins logo on soccer scoreboard at Paw Paw High School, Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018. Daniel VastaDaniel Vasta

PAW PAW, MI -- The federal government is investigating a Southwest Michigan school district after a complaint alleging a “racially hostile educational environment.”

The U.S. Department of Education launched a formal investigation into Paw Paw Public Schools after the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan complained about a "racially hostile educational environment,” the ACLU said in a press release Thursday, Dec. 12.

The ACLU filed a complaint with the federal government asking for an investigation in January because of a “pervasive racially hostile environment," the ACLU said. In the complaint, the ACLU detailed several examples of a hostile environment, citing records received through the Freedom of Information Act.

A spokesperson with the DOE said the investigation began Thursday, Dec. 5, but said because it was an open investigation, the department can’t offer any further details. The spokesperson said the investigation is looking into “possible discrimination on the basis of race."

According to the ACLU, the government’s investigation will work to determine whether the district "effectively cause, encouraged, accepted, tolerated, or failed to correct a racially hostile environment for Native American persons at its high school.”

The ACLU also cites the Paw Paw Public Schools Board of Education’s vote in 2017 to reinstate the Redskins mascot, saying the board agreed not to address it again until tax dollars are withheld.

The Redskins mascot — which is used for the school’s sports teams, signs, spirit gear and other imagery — has been a source of contention in the community.

Paw Paw Superintendent Rick Reo said in a statement sent by Byrum & Fisk Advocacy Communications that the school district is “fully cooperating” with the investigation.

“We will continue to focus on educating kids and try to avoid letting the ongoing debate over the school mascot distract us from our mission or impact the high-quality learning environment we strive to create each and every day,” the statement said.

In August 2018, a billboard was erected along I-94 near Paw Paw High School in protest of the school’s mascot. The billboard was placed on the north side of I-94, about a half mile west of the Paw Paw exit, by the Michigan Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media, according to a press release from the organization. In September of the same year, the ACLU urged Walmart to remove and stop selling merchandise with the “offensive, racial slur."

Examples cited in the ACLU’s complaint against Paw Paw include one student complaining other students said after the election, “Trump’s in the house,” “Go back to Mexico,” and “Go back to your country now and pick blueberries.” In other examples cited by the ACLU, people were called racial slurs including a slur used against black people and “dirty Mexican.” In another example, students placed a swastika and a small Hitler figurine in the basket of a student’s model hot air balloon science project, the ACLU said.

The incidents of bullying and harassment are usually dealt with individually, but a persistent and widespread problem such as the one at Paw Paw needs a different approach, the ACLU said.

The district denied the allegations by the ACLU in January and said school administrators work to promote diversity and to encourage cultural senstivity.

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