Black cheerleader made to act like a 'pet' as white teammates took videos, suit says

Kate Linderman, The Charlotte Observer on Nov 11, 2024

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A competitive cheer team from a Pennsylvania high school was staying in a Florida hotel to compete in a national competition when a freshman cheerleader received a knock on her door.

It was a teammate telling her to come to another room where other members had gathered during the February 2024 competition, according to court documents. When the Black cheerleader walked in the room, documents state, she was made to crawl on all fours, pretending that she was a white senior cheerleader’s “pet” on an imaginary leash.

Her teammates took videos and photos of the “humiliating” act, according to the lawsuit filed Nov. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

On the flight back to Pennsylvania, the complaint says one of the coaches told her to keep quiet about what happened to her in the Florida hotel.

That was not the only time this cheerleader was singled out for her race, according to the lawsuit. The complaint also accuses the team’s coaches of discriminating against her.

The cheerleader, now 16 years old, and her parents are suing the Cumberland Valley School District and multiple administrators, coaches and members of the booster club, accusing them of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the student’s equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

The Cumberland Valley School District, located in Mechanicsburg, did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Nov. 11. Attorneys for the individual coaches and administrators were not listed.

Coaches “did everything in their power to take away (her) enjoyment of the sport solely because of her race,” and it started when she joined the team in the summer of 2023, the lawsuit said.

The student was told she wasn’t “cheerleader-like” by one of the coaches, despite receiving an award for her “elite” tumbling skills, according to court documents.

The cheerleader was also singled out as the person to film all of the competition tournaments, which left her out of many team photos, the lawsuit said. Even if the girl was in the photos, she would sometimes be cropped out or “obscured” in online posts, according to court documents.

When getting on a bus to go to a football game, the Black student was made to wait to get on the bus until her white teammates were “boarded and seated,” according to the lawsuit.

“This call back to the Segregation Era was enforced by coaches and the other cheerleaders,” according to court documents. This act was witnessed by school faculty and officials, the complaint said.

As the incidents continued, the cheerleader’s parents noticed their daughter would cry when they picked her up from practice. She would act “withdrawn” and sad, and even asked her parents to switch schools, according to the complaint.

The family is demanding a jury trail.

Mechanicsburg is about a 110-mile drive northwest from Philadelphia.

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