That’s what some south Suburban Chicago School districts are trying to find out. The plaintiffs include two majority black school districts and the defendants are 13 majority white districts formed after the latter succeeded from a racially diverse district. The plaintiffs are alleging that the departing school districts violated federal civil rights laws by forming a “Mason-Dixon” line out of I-57 (the expressway that separates the old district from the new).
The Chicago Tribune reports: “The new Southwest Suburban Conference, which was formed during the past year by the secession of predominantly white schools from SICA, is 75 percent white,” attorney Matthew J. Piers said. “The new South Suburban Conference, which announced its formation effective in the fall, is 60 percent white.”
SICA would be left predominantly black in all but one school, the plaintiffs said.”
The Chicago Sun-Times writes: “In seceding from SICA, they are creating, to the extent feasible, separate interscholastic competitions for white and black students — and racial motivations are the reason.“
The State Of . . . America. What more can I say? The plaintiff’s complaint also includes the transcript of a racially charged voicemail left by a school board member of one of the departing school districts. The caller used “poor blackie” in his descriptions of the majority black schools and also said, “why are they failing? . . . because of what’s in ‘em.” The case name is Board of Education of Thorton Township High School District 205 et al v. Board of Education of Argo Community High School District 217 et al.
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