Former first lady Michelle Obama’s brother and sister-in-law are suing their children’s former private school in Milwaukee over alleged racial and socioeconomic bias.
Kelly and Craig Robinson claimed the University School of Milwaukee, a pre-K through 12th grade school, expelled their 9-year-old and 11-year-old children after the couple raised complaints about racial stereotypes in the curriculum.
“As a lot of parents, we heard what was going on in the classroom because of COVID, and there were repeated use of racial and ethnic stereotypes that were in actual assignments,” Craig Robinson said in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America. “The use of the word plantation and things of that nature. In addition to the racial and ethnic stereotypes, there was an insensitivity to socioeconomic status as well as a disregard for the children who weren’t physically in the classroom.”
In a lawsuit filed by the couple, the Robinsons said they filed two separate bias incident reports in January and March 2021, which were brushed off by the school.
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The couple said that while their children attended the school, they became aware of an alleged school activity called the “Underground Railroad,” which was included in the fourth grade curriculum as recently as 10 years prior, involving students dressing up as slaves.
“Students dressed up as slaves and ran through the school in the dark, and the teachers were actually the slave masters who captured these students,” Kelly Robinson said. “Hearing these stories and understanding the pain that other families have gone through are one of the reasons why we wanted to come forward with this story.”
Michelle Obama’s brother and his wife sue children’s former school, accusing it of racial and socioeconomic bias. @SteveOsunsami reports. https://t.co/jFKtpRGqkD pic.twitter.com/SHubHjC3W8
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 19, 2022
The University School of Milwaukee said it could not “comment on the specifics of matters involving threatened or pending litigation” in a Tuesday afternoon message to the school community.
“However, we can tell you that USM’s enrollment decisions had nothing to do with complaints of inequity or discrimination, and we intend to vigorously defend the school against any claim to the contrary,” Head of School Steve Hancock said in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner. “We are committed to our justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion programming and do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”
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The school said that the two children were dismissed because the Robinsons had “repeatedly engaged in disrespectful and demanding communications with and about our teachers and administrators,” according to a dismissal letter included in the suit.
The couple’s children now attend another school.
