Feds Launch Probe Against Brookline

Federal Civil Rights Probe Launched Against Brookline Public Schools

The U.S. Department of Education confirmed that it has launched a federal investigation in response to the civil rights complaint filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights (“LCR”) on behalf of MC, a Black student who experienced racial bullying at Amos A. Lawrence School in Brookline, Massachusetts.  

M.C. was one of a handful of Black students in the entire eighth grade, often leading to racial tensions. This harassment ranged from being called racially derogatory slurs, such as “cotton picker,” to the most recent incident, where a white student placed his knee on MC’s neck while MC was on the ground, and yelled, “George Floyd! George Floyd!” –– a painful reference to the Black man whose murder at the hands of Minneapolis police officers sparked a nationwide outcry for racial justice. 

This marks the fourth civil rights complaint LCR has filed in the last two months to address racial bullying across the Commonwealth. LCR represents a Southwick student who was “bid” on during an online slave auction, and two Melrose students––a twelve-year old Black boy who was repeatedly called the N-word, and most recently, a eleven-year old Black girl whose escalating racial bullying culminated in a white student cutting off her hair braids. 

LCR is pleased to have prompt intervention by the U.S. Department of Education, particularly as racial bullying incidents are growing. The prevalence of this type of racial harassment underscores the pressing need for comprehensive federal intervention. 

The civil rights complaint against Brookline is available here. 

The civil rights complaints against Melrose are available here and here. 

The civil rights complaint against Southwick is available here.

The letter confirming the civil rights probe against Brookline is available here: