Michelle Obama's Brother Accuses WI School Of Racial Bias: Report

Milwaukee WI

21 April, 2022

4:16 PM

Description

MILWAUKEE, WI — The brother of former first lady Michelle Obama and his wife have filed a lawsuit accusing a private school in the Milwaukee area of racial bias, according to a report from TMJ4 Milwaukee. Craig and Kelly Robinson filed the lawsuit against the University School of Milwaukee on Monday in Milwaukee County, court records show. The Robinsons claim the River Hills school wrongfully expelled their two sons after the parents brought issues to the school regarding racially insensitive learning materials, according to the TMJ4 report. When their two boys began remote learning, the Robinsons saw "repeated use of racial and ethnic stereotypes in actual assignments" and disregard for remote learners, Craig Robinson told the station. In a letter from Head of School Steve Hancock to the Robinsons, the school cited disrespectful communication from the parents to fifth grade teachers and administrators through emails, texts and conversations that negatively impacted the learning environment, according to the report. In the suit, the Robinsons state Kelly Robinson submitted a pair of bias-incident reports, the first in January 2021, through the school's reporting system to inform administrators of "harmful content toward underrepresented students," according to NPR. The school acknowledged receipt of the reports but said nothing else. The Robinsons' oldest son was denied re-enrollment in April 2021, and the youngest was denied re-enrollment in June 2021, according to the report. The school acknowledged the lawsuit in a statement Monday but declined to comment on specifics of pending litigation. The school did say that the enrollment decisions had nothing to do with "complaints of inequity or discrimination," and that the school will not tolerate "disrespectful, bullying or harassing" behavior toward staff. "Such conduct that makes our faculty feel unsafe ... interferes with USM's operations and precludes a positive and constructive working relationship between the school and the families we proudly serve," the school's statement said. "When such parental conduct threatens the educational environment we have created, we have no choice but to take action."