Racism complaint filed against middle school in Brookline, alleges student called ‘cotton picker’

BROOKLINE, Mass. — A Massachusetts family says their 14-year-old child was subjected to racial abuse by other students.

They’re now taking legal action and filing a complaint against the Lawrence Middle School to try and stop this from happening again.

They say their child, MC Henry, an 8th grader, was a victim of racial bullying for months and the school did nothing about it.

The lawsuit says the first incident happened back in December 2023 when a classmate called MC a quote, “cotton picker.”

Then in April 2024, MC tripped and fell during music class.

The lawsuit says:

“While MC was still on the floor, a white student knelt down, placing his knee directly on MC’s neck, and exclaimed, “George Floyd! George Floyd!” in reference to the black man killed by police in Minneapolis in 2020.

Mirian Albert, the family’s attorney, says, “Obviously this was an extremely traumatic experience for my client, there’s a long history of social science research that talks about how racial bullying can have such a detrimental effect on students’ mental health, the development of their racial identity.”

The superintendent of schools says the district is reviewing this legal complaint, saying in part:

“The public schools of Brookline condemns hatred and racism in all of its forms. Racism and discrimination run contrary to the values of our school district.”

As for the next steps, the Office for Civil Rights – in the Department of Education will decide whether to open an investigation into this in the coming weeks.

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