Four black students and their families are planning to sue a New York school district for $12 million after a teacher played a slideshow featuring an image of them captioned 'monkey do' to a class. The photograph of the Longwood High School students - which was taken during a field trip to the Bronx Zoo in November - shows the four teenagers standing in a line with their arms resting on the back of the person ahead of them.
The image was then featured in a 'grossly racist' slideshow played during a zoology class on December 20, with the phrase 'monkey do' typed above the image, the New York Post reported.
Lawyer John Ray, who is representing three of the students, said teachers had 'created and manipulated' the photograph and placed it between a picture of monkeys captioned 'monkey see' and a photo of a gorilla in the presentation. He added this was 'thereby misusing the pidgin expression, "Monkey See, Monkey Do" for racially discriminatory and offensive purposes'.
In a notice of the $12 million claim, Ray claimed the students were 'deliberately persuaded, tricked and cajoled' into posing for the photograph which was taken next to the gorilla exhibit.
Students Jahkeem Moye, Khevin Beaubrun, Gykye Murray and Desmond Dent Jr alleged two teachers told them to pose in the unusual way while on the field trip, ABC News reported. 'Us four, we all felt uncomfortable with this,' Beaubrun said. 'We all thought it was weird'. Moye added: 'I didn't know, like that they were going to put it in that perspective and show us, compare us to monkeys'.
The slideshow exposed 'claimant students ... to ridicule, embarrassment and shame, anxiety, fear and emotional harm', the document claims.
The four students and their families now intend to sue the school district for $12 million for emotional distress and violation of their civil rights.
Michael Lonergan, superintendent of the Longwood Central School District, has dubbed the slideshow 'culturally insensitive' and an 'unfortunate lapse of judgment'...
