Diverse Families Argue 'Start Slavery Again' Petition Is Free Speech

A recent story of Park Hill student racial controversy is important because it contradicts highly racialized social media advocacy and mainstream reporting.

Here are the basics . . .

The parents of the students involved are now suing, claiming the district violated their “constitutional rights to freedom of speech under the First Amendment and to Due Process and Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.”

The suit alleges that the school environment was “infused with frequent, casual use of racial and ethnic epithets and slurs,” and that teachers and school administrators tolerated such language and behavior. The suit states that coaches and district adults “mostly condoned heavily racialized interactions among the members of the ninth grade football team.”

Park Hill School District spokesperson Nicole Kirby said after the lawsuit was filed that the district “took prompt, decisive action to enforce our policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment and uncivil behavior.”

She confirmed via email the discipline outlined in the lawsuit and said the district could comment further when the litigation heads to court.

Across the country, other students have successfully argued against school disciplinary action using the First Amendment. David R. Dow, Cullen Professor at the University of Houston Law Center, does not think the parents will be successful making this case in court.

“While students do not lose their First Amendment free speech rights once they are attending public school, the public schools do have power to punish certain speech,” Dow told the PBS NewsHour via email.

Of course, the fact that high school antics have garnered so much attention is troubling. 

But more importantly . . .

The punchline here is that Black & Latino families claim that controversial racial conversation is their First Amendment right and the persecution they've confronted by the school administration and the mainstream media is an attack against their freedom. It's a bold argument which contradicts politically correct criticism and allegations of systemic racism.

Moreover . . . 

Black & Latino families in Park Hill are fighting for a truly American value: The right to offend.

And so . . . 

Real talk: Cowtown MSM and activists were only interested in this controversy  in order to propagate a false narrative alleging rampant racism against students of color. The truth, as always, is more complicated.

Ironically, the story which was touted as evidence of "persecution" has been abandoned by the vast majority of our progressive friends when the merits of this case refuted their worldview. In essence, activists were more interested in defending their politics then actually standing up for minority students confronting allegedly unfair persecution.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news link . . .

Students who launched pro-slavery petition at Missouri high school sue after suspensions, expulsion

KANSAS CITY - A little more than two months after students circulated a petition calling for a return to slavery at a Missouri high school, a lawsuit has been filed against the Park Hill School District, the board of education and the superintendent on behalf of the students who were disciplined for commenting on the petition.

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