A Black Lives Matter march is seen in a file photo.
A Pennsylvania couple is suing their children’s school district for discrimination stemming from their refusal to let their kids participate in curriculum discussing race, which the parents describe as “anti-Christian” and “anti-white.”
Maureen and Christopher Brophy sued the East Penn School District on Monday, claiming constitutional and civil rights violations under the Civil Rights Act and the American Disabilities Act.
The Brophys tried to opt-out of curriculum that included the book “White Fragility” as required reading for their children, a 16-year-old son identified as C.B. and a 15-year-old daughter identified as M.B.
“[The Brophys] indicated that the use of topics within their children’s classroom such as ‘systemic racism,’ ‘white fragility,’ ‘religion,’ ‘white privilege,’ ‘Black Lives Matter,’ and ‘police brutality’ were not acceptable and would not be tolerated,” the complaint says. “Plaintiff Parents explained that these topics are anti-Christian and therefore, discriminate directly against their religion.”
“Christians and Catholics are a majority white religion, self-identifying white Catholics comprising 60% of the followers,” the complaint continues. “This religion is heavily tied to Italy, whose population is 80% Catholic and home to the Vatican.”
The school district denied the parents’ exemption request. According to the Brophys, that’s when their children started facing retaliatory discrimination.
According to the complaint, the Brophys’ minor children have disabilities which weren’t properly accommodated as a result of the parents’ complaints. One child, C.B., has “several health issues including Hypersomnolence, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Amplified Musculoskeletal Pain Syndrome (AMPS),” the complaint said.
However, once the Brophys complained about the “discriminatory curriculum,” the school district, proper accommodations for C.B., including printing his school work out on paper to accommodate his vision impairment, were not made.
Additionally, according to the complaint, one teacher refused to do in-person instruction with C.B. because he wasn’t wearing a mask, even though he was medically exempt from doing so.
This, the Brophys say, amounted to discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“As a result of Defendant’s discriminatory and intolerable treatment, Plaintiffs suffered severe emotional distress and physical ailments,” the complaint said.
The Brophys also said that their children hadn’t faced discrimination before these complaints.
“Prior to Plaintiff Mother’s complaints about the anti-Christian, anti-white curriculum in the school, Plaintiffs C.B. and M.B. did not receive discriminatory treatment on the basis of their disabilities,” they said in the complaint.
Attorneys for the Brophys and for the East Penn School District didn’t immediately respond to Law&Crime’s request for comment.
“Anybody can file a lawsuit by paying the filing fee,” East Penn School District Solicitor Marc S. Fisher told Lehigh Valley Live. “Being successful is something completely different.”
Read the complaint below:
[Image via David Dee Delgado/Getty Images]
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