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Press Release
The Justice Department announced today a settlement agreement with Hawkins County Schools in Tennessee to resolve its investigation into allegations of race-based harassment and other discrimination targeting Black students.
The investigation, conducted jointly by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, found that the incidents of harassment — including a mock “slave auction” to sell Black students to their white counterparts, white students’ repeated and open use of the N-word and a “monkey of the month” campaign to ridicule Black students — collectively created a racially hostile environment. Although the district took steps to acknowledge some of the harassment, their response was not sufficient to protect the Constitutional rights of Black students.
“No student should endure mock slave auctions or racial slurs meant to invoke a shameful period in our country’s history when Black people were treated as subhuman,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. “Racial harassment undermines a student's ability to feel safe, eliminates any hope for fostering a supportive educational environment and violates the Constitution’s most basic promise of equal protection. The Justice Department remains committed to protecting the civil rights of all students and will ensure that Hawkins County Schools takes all actions necessary to end racial discrimination in its schools.”
“To protect our children and cultivate a successful learning environment, our schools must take complaints of racial harassment and discrimination with the utmost seriousness and address them promptly and effectively,” said U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III for the Eastern District of Tennessee. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office commends the Hawkins County Board of Education for cooperating in the department’s investigation and working to improve its response to complaints of racial harassment and discrimination by reaching a resolution that enhances protections for both students’ constitutional rights and their dignity.”
The department opened its investigation in March 2023 under Titles IV and VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The district fully cooperated during the investigation and readily pursued an agreement to address the department’s findings. Under the agreement, Hawkins County Schools will implement significant reforms, including:
Protecting students from harassment and other discrimination is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division is available at www.justice.gov/crt, and additional information about the work of the Educational Opportunities Section is available at www.justice.gov/crt/educational-opportunities-section.
Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at www.civilrights.justice.gov/.