A civil rights complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education against a South Carolina middle school Thursday after the school planned racially segregated events to “talk with students about how to cope with being a student in a predominantly white school.”
As Breitbart News reported, Pickens Middle School planned lunches with a special guest in which students would be segregated on the basis of race — white and Asian students did not get special lunches and were excluded from the race-based events.
Parents Defending Education (PDE), which filed the complaint with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, alleged the school violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
“For a district to racially segregate students – in order to hear from a speaker renowned for lecturing on ‘unity,’ no less – is insult to injury, and sends students the opposite message,” PDE President Nicole Neily told Breitbart News. “It is immoral and unconstitutional for districts across the country to treat students differently based on skin color, regardless of the administration’s intent.”
After backlash from parents regarding racial segregation, the school appeared to change course.
While the school attempted to justify the events by saying they were an “opportunity for students of specific minority groups to ask questions to the speaker surrounded by others like them – to create an increased sense of security for them to be open and candid,” they eventually capitulated.
“One of the Core Beliefs of our school system states that ‘We believe the cultural diversity promotes full development of the individual and society,’” the school concluded, appearing to double down on the racial ideology that likely led to the segregation in the first place. “Thank you for your support as we seek to strengthen our shared core values of inclusivity and respect.”
Schools across the country have attempted to reinstitute racial segregation for certain events as part of a social justice movement. Proponents believe these “affinity groups” — the pet name given to racial segregation by today’s left — will allow certain racial groups to have “safe spaces” away from other racial groups.
Breccan F. Thies is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow him on Twitter @BreccanFThies.
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