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A middle school student in Massachusetts said he was subjected to racist bullying that his school declined to take action against.
According to NBC10, Nita Holder filed a civil complaint with the Department of Education against Melrose Public Schools on behalf of her son, David Palacios, a student at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School.
"I’ve been called the N-word a few times, it all started out with jokes then they started to take it too far,” Palacios said.
Palacios said he tried to tell his peers that he was uncomfortable with them hurling racial slurs at him. One student allegedly told him: "I have only said it once David. But I can name 100 people in this school that say it on a daily basis”
The middle school student said he also informed his teacher of people calling him the N-word but they didn't do anything about it.
“There was an eighth grader and he had called me an N-word in the hallway and then pushed me,” Palacios recalled.
Palacios' mother said she also reached out to school officials to no avail.
Once the racial bullying started to affect her son's grades, Holder filed a civil rights complaint with the Lawyers for Civil Rights with USDOE's Office of Civil Rights.
“What motivated me to do it is injustice," Holder said. "I’m a Black woman. I’m raising two Black men.”
Melrose Public Schools addressed the complaint in a statement.
"We look forward to cooperating with the Office of Civil Rights to provide more information about the steps that the District took to address these incidents described in this complaint," Interim Superintendent John Macero said. "We take any allegations of individual or systemic discrimination very seriously in Melrose Public Schools, and we are committed to fostering a safe and equitable educational environment for all."
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