‘We Should… Remove Blacks from This Planet’: White Students Sent Messages Fantasizing About Killing African-Americans While School Leaders ‘Turned a Blind Eye’ and Ignored Rampant Racism, Lawsuit Says

A Colorado middle school principal’s effort to extricate himself from a civil rights lawsuit that alleges he shares responsibility for racial discrimination against Black and biracial students at his school was denied by a U.S. district judge. Castle Rock Middle School Principal John Veit argued that he is entitled to qualified immunity as a government official against a legal claim that he “failed to prevent a conspiracy” among white students in the school to deprive Black students of equal protection and access to education under federal civil rights laws. The 2023 lawsuit, brought by three families against Veit and the Douglas County School District, detailed horrific instances of harassment, racial slurs and threats against their children. They claimed a pervasive pattern of racism and bullying existed at the district’s schools and alleged that school and district staff were aware of the discrimination and harm students faced but did not take sufficient action to stop it. The Ganzys are one of three families that filed a lawsuit alleging that the Douglas County School District in Colorado did nothing to protect Black and biracial students from racial harassment and discrimination. (Photo: YouTube screenshot/CBS Colorado) The complaint recounted how Black and biracial students,...