‘Belong In a Cage’: Colorado Mom Furious After Son Repeatedly Called ‘N-Word’ and ‘Jigaboo’at High School; Feds Found Staff Tolerated the ‘Racially Hostile Environment’

When she learned her biracial son had been harassed with racial slurs at his predominantly white Fort Collins, Colorado, high school six months into his sophomore year, Stephanie Watson Lewis asked for a meeting with the school principal. In late January, she told Principal Robert Robinson that more than a dozen students had called her son, then a 16-year-old sophomore, the “n-word,” “monkey,” and other slurs almost daily since the second week of school. The students also said he “belonged in a cage” and that he must “like watermelon and fried chicken.” Watson Lewis, who is Black, told the principal of another instance where a student reportedly dropped to their knees in front of her son and mockingly said, “Black Lives Matter.” Stephanie Watson Lewis’ son allegedly faced severe bullying at Liberty Common High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. (Photo Courtesy of Credit: Stephanie Watson Lewis) Her son had transferred into Liberty Common High School in 2023 after his father, who is white, was hired as an IT administrator at the public charter school, known for its rigorous academics and “classical” college prep curriculum. While he had begun the school year a bit nervous about taking on a more challenging...