Rosa Slack, one of two black teachers at Kennebunk High School, swallowed her surprise and took the moment in stride: One of her students breezed into the classroom with a Confederate flag draped over his shoulders like a cape while another student recorded her reaction without her knowledge and posted images to social media.
The two boys were suspended, but the event cascaded into a yearslong conflict with local administrators, culminating in Slack filing a race-based retaliation complaint that is pending before the Maine Human Rights Commission.
“(Slack) made multiple attempts to get the administration to agree to provide meaningful, student-bodywide anti-bias training. They turned her down every time,” said her attorney, Max Brooks. “The administration’s failure to take effective steps to prevent additional racial harassment is why Rosa is standing up now for what’s right – so that future Kennebunk High School students and teachers and staff are kept safe from degrading racial harassment.”
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Read “Racist intimidation, cover-up alleged at Kennebunk High” here