Effingham County, Georgia, is a coastal area just north of Savannah, mostly rural, and about three-quarters white (see 2020 census data here). It has a county-wide school system, whose website lists 8 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 2 high schools, and a “college and career academy.”
In 2020, school security officers enforcing the district’s dress code kicked a 13-year-old black girl out of a high school football game for wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt (see story here). The superintendent (photo and bio here) says the dress code prohibits “political advertisements at school events.” A white boy wearing a t-shirt reading, “Stomp on my flag, and I’ll stomp your ass,” at the game was allowed to stay.
There have been racist incidents in Effingham schools, including a video of students mocking George Floyd’s death in a classroom, finding the “N”-word on a locker (see story here), and display of a noose in the football locker room (see story here), which parents of three black students accused school officials ignoring or brushing aside in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed on Thursday, January 5, 2023.
The lawsuit complains that white students were allowed to wear Confederate attire, and one even dressed up in a Hitler costume, with teachers’ approval. The complaint says “school officials permit the wearing of any and all Confederate flag apparel …, but simultaneously prohibit the wearing of any and all ‘Black Lives Matter’ or related thematic messaging (e.g. a shirt with Black Love).”
It’s hard to see how the school board can defend a dress code that allows white supremacy-themed clothing, but prohibits as “political” any attire expressing “black love” or that “black lives matter.” When this case comes before a judge, the only question is what the settlement terms are going to be.
Update: On January 17, 2023, another black student joined the lawsuit, alleging the school district retaliated against him for reporting racist Snapchat messages by altering his grades and adding fake disciplinary actions to his school records (read story here; see amended lawsuit here).