‘Cowardly Dirty Work’: Pennsylvania Teen Forced Out of School After Racist Classmates Relentlessly Called Her a Monkey and Sang ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ Until She Had a Mental Breakdown

The parents of a Pennsylvania teenager were just awarded a settlement to resolve a lawsuit that alleged their child endured extreme racist bullying within her school district. A judge recently approved a $50,000 award for the family of a now-17-year-old biracial teenager. The teen’s parents, Jenna Swisher and Reginald Gallman, filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the Jersey Shore Area School District, alleging their daughter suffered repeated racist harassment while she was in a middle school that belonged to the district, The Express reported. Jersey Shore Area Middle School in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania (Photo: Facebook/Jersey Shore Area School District) The discrimination started in 2018, according to the complaint. The suit detailed specific instances when the child was called a Black girl’s name and a monkey, had “Baa Baa Black Sheep” sung to her, and heard the use of the N-word. Other Black students also reportedly suffered similar treatment. The claim also states that Swisher reported the hostility to district administrators, but her complaints were met with inaction. None of the offenders were ever disciplined. The child reportedly suffered “ongoing racial harassment” that was so intense that she suffered a mental breakdown in 2022, forcing her to withdraw from the district...