In recent weeks, Black students across several Illinois high schools have experienced racial harassment and discrimination while attending school sporting events.
In September, students at Lincoln-Way East were seen making monkey gestures and sounds toward the Homewood-Flossmoor crowd during a football game. Last Friday, also at a football game, Evanston Township High School students said they were booed, spat on, and told to “go back to Africa” by New Trier students.
These two situations have been well covered by the media, but we know that these experiences are far more common for Black students, with many cases going unreported.
Black students have faced racial discrimination in schools for a long time. However, in this current polarized climate, people are feeling more emboldened to say and do things, especially when those causing harm are rarely being held accountable. Too often, we have heard directly from impacted families that the response from school staff or administrators is to minimize, explain away, or deny that the racial slurs being used were in fact racial slurs.
When students and families try to report racial discrimination and they are dismissed, this sends a dangerous message to all students and their school communities: that the experiences of Black students do not matter and that racism will be tolerated.
When school administrators fail to take appropriate action or hold people accountable for this behavior, it doesn’t just impact the students who directly face harassment and discrimination. Other Black students who go on to face similar experiences will avoid reporting it because “nothing will happen anyway.”
This was exactly the case with the Durlak family, whose three Black children faced ongoing racial discrimination and racial harassment for more than seven years in Antioch Community Consolidated School District 34 (District 34). Despite repeated efforts from the Durlak family to seek accountability, the predominantly white school district has failed to appropriately respond to or address the ongoing harassment and create a safe and welcoming environment for Black students. White school officials even questioned if white students frequently calling Black students “black monkeys” was in fact a racist term. The lack of action by District 34 underscores just how little progress we have made in curbing these deeply harmful practices.
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee has filed a formal complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights on behalf of the Durlak family.
“This complaint is bigger than our three children. It raises what we believe are systemic issues in how minority children and families are treated within District 34. This isn’t just about what happened to our kids anymore,” said Mrs. Durlak. “It’s about making sure the next minority child who speaks up is heard, the next parent who raises concerns isn’t made to feel like they’re the problem, and another family doesn’t have to fight this hard just to get what every child should already have, a safe school experience where they are treated with dignity and respect.”
Illinois law, including the Racism-Free Schools Law passed by the Illinois General Assembly in 2023, protects students from racial discrimination and harassment at school. Under the Racism-Free Schools Law, schools and districts are responsible for creating policies that prohibit racial harassment and discrimination and take steps to address it, so that there is a safe learning environment for all children.
We are proud to represent the Durlak family in their fight for accountability and we will continue to fight on behalf of every family in Illinois to ensure schools are held accountable and all students are safe, respected, and able to learn.