Georgia students sue over blocked protest against rebel flag

ATLANTA (AP) — A group of Black students who were suspended for trying to protest Confederate flag displays at their school in Georgia has filed a federal lawsuit accusing their school district and its board members of allowing “overt bigotry and animosity by some white students and teachers against African American students.”

The students, joined by their mothers as plaintiffs, already made news when their protest at Coosa High School was stifled last fall.

Now, in their lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Floyd County school district and its board members, they allege an extensive pattern of racism, including white students reenacting the murder of George Floyd and posting it on social media, and a student who carried what appeared to be a whip and told a Black student “we used to whip you."

They also allege unfair punishment: Students are banned from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, but Confederate flag apparel is acceptable under the school's dress code, the lawsuit says.

The suit faults administrators for “deliberate indifference to acts of racial animosity toward black students perpetrated by white students and teachers; as well as the school’s viewpoint discrimination in its dress code and the inconsistent administration of disciplinary policies to the detriment of Black students.”

Joining the students as plaintiffs are their mothers, Lekisha Turner and Jessica Murray. Murray claims she was pulled over by a police officer after picking up the suspended children, and detained until school officials presented her with a letter threatening criminal trespassing charges if she was found again on school grounds.

Superintendent Glenn White on Tuesday said the district disputes the allegations but had been advised by lawyers to not get into specifics at this time....