It's the 21st century but racism still persists. In New York City, three federal complaints had been filed against schools for allegedly mishandling sexual assault cases involving black girls.
In the span of eight months, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights had already received three complaints from the same lawyer, Attorney Carrie Goldberg. Her complaints are grounded on the assumption of racial and gender discrimination in NYC schools' handling of sexual assault cases. According to her, the response of NYC schools seem to have been influenced by the victims being black and being girls (via Huffington Post).
One of the provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 require institutions that receive federal funding from the Department of Education to undergo their own investigation of sexual assault cases and provide counseling and any necessary assistance to the sexual assault victim. On the basis of sex, Title IX per se, is against discrimination of any individual on any education program or activity.
This is not the case for the tons of girls, ages 13 to 15, who ran to Attorney Carrie Goldberg in need of help. These girls have reported as victims of campus sexual assault but instead of receiving the assistance they need from their NYC school, they had either been suspended or were forced to transfer to a "safer" school.
"Title IX is one cause of action, but there's a greater standard of care required when you are dealing with underage kids. Schools shouldn't just be afraid of losing federal funding. They should also be afraid of lawsuits, and about jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of their students," Atty. Goldberg said as quoted by Buzzfeed.
Buzzfeed narrates the story of a Haitian-American eight grader who claimed to be raped by a boy who videotaped the incident and shared it on the Internet. The girl, alias G, is one of the many young girls of color included on Goldberg's complaints to the Department of Education (via Huffington Post).
G., who used to study at Spring Creek Community School, was temporarily sent home by the principal until the school finishes working on her sexual assault report. After four days, G. and her mother was told that G. has to transfer to another school for her sake. The mother and daughter would later find out through Atty. Goldberg that no school investigation took place, and that Spring Creek did not do anything to find a replacement school for G.
Another story is that of a 15-year-old student at Teachers Preparatory School. With five witnesses, the girl was forced to give oral sex to two boys. Fearing that it might happen again, the girl reported the incident but the school did not believe her. It claimed that the act was consensual which is why the reporting victim was suspended for "engaging in sexual activity on school grounds" (via Huffington Post).
"I think there's a race and a class issue, in addition to a sexism issue. Teenage black girls are sexualized in society in a way that white girls are not. In these cases, there was doubt the sex happened, no belief the girls were making up the whole stories, there was ample proof this happened. What was being disbelieved was whether or not it's consensual," Atty. Goldberg told Huffington Post.
Now on Atty. Goldberg's latest complaint filed on June 4, she is requesting the Departments of Education and Justice to investigate NYC schools pertaining to sexual assault cases involving black girls. She aims to give justice to these victimized minors.
Do you agree with Atty. Goldberg that racial and gender discrimination influenced the NYC schools' response to sexual assault cases involving black girls? Share your views on the Comments section below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
