‘Simply Ludicrous: Oregon School Called Cops on Black Couple Who Demanded Action After Son Was Allegedly Called the N-Word. Then School Leaders Expelled the Boy, Sparking Backlash
An Oregon Catholic school’s decision to expel a Black child after he was reportedly called a racist slur set off a wave of backlash from other families who withdrew their children and demanded that school leaders re-enroll the student and change their policies.
Karis Stoudamire-Phillips and her husband, Mike Phillips, recounted how tensions escalated between them and the principal of The Madeleine School in northeast Portland after they learned their fourth-grade son was called the N-word by another student.
Stoudamire-Phillips told The Oregonian that she and her husband rushed to the school on March 31 after she received a call from the school’s secretary who said their son had heard the slur while he and other students were returning to class from recess.
They met with Principal Tresa Rast, but the conversation devolved quickly.
Stoudamire-Phillips said this wasn’t the first time her family encountered racism at the school. She said her older son suffered a similar experience when he was a Madeleine student. She and her husband were unsatisfied with how Rast handled that incident and considered transferring their younger son out of the school, but he wanted to stay. Stoudamire-Phillips has been volunteering with the school and advocating for stronger racial equity policies ever since.
“I told [Rast], you do understand that I don’t have confidence in you, based on my previous experiences with you,” Stoudamire-Phillips recalled. “And she told me, ‘Well, if you don’t trust me, why have [your child] at this school?’”
Rast asked the couple to leave the school, but when they refused, she called the police. The Portland Police Bureau stated that they were called to the school due to “parents yelling at employees and refusing to leave.”
“You have to understand that a Black man having the cops called on him is a totally different implication. It’s a complete abuse of power, a ‘Look what I have over you,’” Mike Phillips said. “You’re calling the cops on me and kicking out my son because of what he heard? My family is the victim in this. There is no cross you can hide behind.”
Phillips met police outside the school building to show he had nothing to hide. Rast eventually told responding officers they were free to leave and the situation was under control.
In the days that followed, the couple waited for communication from the school about meeting with the offending child’s parents and a decision to enforce disciplinary measures.
But the school only notified them that students allegedly involved in the incident denied hearing the slur. School officials also implied that perhaps their son misheard what was said.
Even claims from a student witness were reportedly diminished by the principal. The family of a child who overheard the slur also met with Rast, who told them she suspected their son had made up the entire incident and recommended he see a therapist to be “deprogrammed” from the anti-racist training he received during his previous enrollment at a public school in Portland.
Stoudamire-Phillips responded with email correspondence slamming the school’s response, calling the principal “completely inept” and accusing her of fostering a school culture that allowed “both overt and subtle racism.”
“It is simply ludicrous to insinuate that one of the only Black boys in the entire Madeleine school would inflict such trauma on himself and lie [about the racist epithet],” Stoudamire-Phillips’ email read.
The next day, the school responded with an email titled “Termination of partnership,” notifying the parents that their son would no longer be enrolled at the school.
Stoudamire-Phillips said that she and her husband are aggrieved by the school’s callous actions toward their family, given that they’ve been part of the community for the past 10 years.
“I have a little kid that’s wondering, ‘Why doesn’t this school love me?” Stoudamire-Phillips said. “He asked me that to my face with tears in his eyes.”
The parish priest who oversees the school, Rev. Bonaventure Rummell, reportedly reached out to the Phillips family, stating he was “open to a dialogue.”
The family is now specifically demanding a public apology from The Madeleine, the dismissal of the principal, an independent investigation into the administration’s handling of their son’s complaint, mandatory anti-racism training for staff, faculty, and families, and the enforcement of clear anti-racist policies, among other demands.
Several school community members who learned of the child’s expulsion joined the couple’s crusade. Roughly 50 parents signed a letter to Rummell demanding he reinstate the Phillips’ son and amend the school’s policies. Some even removed their children from the school or made plans to withdraw them next school year.
The family of another Black student wrote a separate letter demanding the principal’s resignation, citing other racist incidents that weren’t appropriately addressed like “students being made fun of for their skin tone and hair texture and other slurs.”
In a statement to the school community about “recent conflicts that have impacted our caring Catholic community,” Rummell wrote, “The Madeleine School remains committed to building its community based on love, understanding, and respect for the dignity of all people as modeled by Jesus Christ. This specifically includes providing a safe environment for all staff and students that is free from discrimination, harassment, and bullying.”