What Black parents around Kansas City should know about protecting their kids from racism at...

A number of racist incidents at schools have made news in the Kansas City area over the last few years. Experts say reporting these incidents is key to ensuring students are free from discrimination in public school — a right they’re guaranteed by federal law.
Solomon Desta was working one day last May when he got a call that three of his son’s white classmates at Olathe South High School had handed him a piece of metal with the N-word carved into it.

Desta was angry.

“It was a Friday around 3 p.m. and they were trying to tell me things were handled correctly,” he said. “I said ‘No. When I come on Monday I will have to talk to you face-to-face.’ … I had to protect my son.”

Research from the U. S. Government Accountability Office shows that race is the leading identifying factor for hate-related words “most commonly targeted in schools.”