Exclusives

EXCLUSIVE: School District Violated Civil Rights Act By Hosting Race And Sex Based Student Group, Complaint Alleges

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A parental rights in education group filed a civil rights complaint Thursday to the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) against a Missouri school district that allegedly hosted a race and sex based affinity group.

Parents Defending Education’s (PDE) complaint, obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, names Webster Groves School District for allegedly engaging in racial and sex-based discrimination by hosting a group limited to students of color who are female, a violation of Title IX and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Webster Groves School District is allegedly hosting a “Renaissance Girls Group,” which is a space for “individuals of color who identify as a girl,” the complaint shows.

“This affinity group in Webster Groves is abhorrent and dehumanizing,” Caroline Moore, PDE vice president, told the DCNF. “To curate affinity groups that segregate students on both the basis of race and sex is despicable and unlike anything we’ve ever come across. It is unconscionable that administrators would purposefully compartmentalize their students as if they were putting away toys in a playroom.”

The “Renaissance Girls Group” serves as a “rebirth of self love” for students of color who “identify as a girl,” the complaint alleges. The group allegedly has a “greater emphasis to redefine sisterhood and create a supportive network at the high school.”

“Possible benefits for the Renaissance Girls affinity group include but are not limited to ‘sisterhood’ and ‘network[ing],'” the complaint alleges. “As for future ‘Renaissance Girls Group’ programming, that too would confer a benefit on the basis of race and sex that is not offered to all students.”

In 2022, the OCR fielded a record number of civil rights complaints, 18,804, over alleged sex, race and disability discrimination. One individual, who the OCR has not named for privacy reasons, filed 7,339 Title IX complaints, which addresses athletics and gender harassment, averaging 20 per day, to the office through 2022.

Across the nation school districts are implementing affinity groups that separate students on the basis of skin color, in an effort to foster diversity and give kids a space to discuss “race, empowerment and inclusivity.” Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in federally funded institutions such as schools.

Webster Groves School District did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.