Michelle Obama’s brother and his wife sue their children’s school for ‘racial and economic bias’
Michelle Obama’s brother and his wife sue $24,000-a-year Milwaukee school for kicking their nine and 11-year-old ‘model student’ children out when they complained that virtual lessons ‘used racist stereotypes and word plantation’
Craig and Kelly Robinson filed a lawsuit against the University School of Milwaukee this week after their sons were expelled last year The Robinsons are brother and sister-in-law of former first lady Michelle ObamaIn the complaint, they allege the private school retaliated against their family after they complained of racist bias overheard during virtual learningThey submitted two reports in January and March 2021 about the alleged bias In April, they received a termination letter from the school dismissing their sonsThe letter alleges that the Robinsons ‘repeatedly engaged in disrespectful and demanding communications with our teachers and administrators’
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The brother and sister-in-law of former first lady Michelle Obama are suing the University School of Milwaukee, alleging that administrators kicked their sons out after they complained of racist virtual lessons.
Craig and Kelly Robinson filed a lawsuit against the Pre-K-12 school this week after alleging that the private school used words like ‘plantation’ inappropriately during lessons. They also claim that teachers were inconsiderate to a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds.
The complaint alleges that the school retaliated against their family- whose kids are aged nine and 11 – after they submitted reports in January and March 2021 about concerns they had about racial and socio-economic bias they reportedly overheard during virtual learning.
‘We heard what was going on in the classroom because of COVID,’ Craig Robins told GMA Tuesday. ‘There were repeated use of racial and ethnic stereotypes that were in actual assignments. The use of the word plantation, and things of that nature.’
‘In addition…there was an insensitivity to socio-economic status as well as a disregard for the children who weren’t physically in the classroom.’
Michelle Obama’s brother Craig Robinson and his wife Kelly are suing the University School of Milwaukee for kicking their sons out after they alleged racist bias in virtual lessons
Robinson and his wife Kelly (pictured with their sons and the Easter Bunny) filed a lawsuit alleging the school retaliated against their family after they submitted reports in January and March 2021 about concerns over racial and socio-economic bias
They expressed their concerns to the school and offered suggestions for improvement, but Robinson said the school ‘summarily dismissed our young children, retaliating against them because of the issues we brought up.’
The school set up a bias incident reporting system last year, but Kelly Robinson told GMA that when she tried to file a report, she was told the system was not working.
‘Just as recent as 10 years ago, the University School of Milwaukee had in their fourth grade curriculum that students reenacted the Underground Railroad, and 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 pointed out during the interview.
She added that ‘one of the other stories that we heard was about how the Black students seem to get more harsh punishments than their white counterparts.’
The Robinsons received a termination letter for their sons, despite the school referring to them in the letter as ‘model students’ and ‘portraits of a graduate.’
Their fifth grader was dismissed in April 2021 and their third grader was dismissed in June 2021. They now attend a different school.
The Robinsons expressed their concerns and offered suggestions for improvement, but said the school ‘summarily dismissed our young children, retaliating against them because of the issues we brought up’
The Robinsons filed a lawsuit against the University School of Milwaukee, a Pre-K-12 school (pictured) alleging that the school used words like ‘plantation’ inappropriately during lessons
Robinson, the brother former first lady Michelle Obama (pictured), wants the school to be held accountable not just for their family, but for others
The Robinsons’ lawsuit filed this week cites the termination letter, which alleges they ‘repeatedly engaged in disrespectful and demanding communications with our teachers and administrators.’
The letter continues with, ‘it has only become more evident that there has been a complete breakdown in your family’s trust of and respect for USM.’
Craig Robinson told GMA that they want to hold the school accountable not just for their family, but for others.
‘We want to hold the University School of Milwaukee accountable not just to our two children who they retaliated against, but more importantly, there’s a whole community of people who are out there that we wouldn’t feel right if this happened moving forward,’ he said.
Tuition for the Robinsons’ sons at the private school had been costing $23,130 per year for their third grader and $24,640 per year for their other son, who is in fifth grade, according to the school’s website.
The school told GMA that the lawsuit was served to their law firm, and without time to review it, they have no comment.
