My daughter, the only minority on her schools basketball team was the subject of racial slurs from her own teammates, yet despite my many attempts to have it stopped, my daughter faced increased harassment not only from her teammates, but also the athletic staff. Despite the schools’ coaches claiming our daughter was the best player on the varsity team, each time we raised the race issue, her playing time was reduced until she was removed from the varsity team and placed as a little-used reserve on the JV team. The arrogance and disdain for my daughter nearly destroyed my health until a civil rights group, after being rebuffed by the school system filed complaints against them on my daughter’s behalf, with the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, as well as our state’s Human Rights Commission.

My daughter has since moved to a new school, where she is thriving socially, academically and athletically. Just 1 1/2 years removed from being a little-used reserve on the JV team on a poor to very mediocre basketball program, my daughter is now being recruited by High Division I NCAA athletic programs while her former school system continues to spend money on legal fees to fight my well-documented case of my daughter’s deplorable treatment under Title VI.

Anyone who honestly believes we live in a “post-racial” society should take a look in the mirror and then take a drive through some of their local neighborhoods where the less fortunate live.