Black Student Sues over Valedictorian Discrimination

18-year-old Kymberly Wimberly has the highest grade point average in her class, but she claims she's being denied the opportunity to be its sole valedictorian - because she's black. In her lawsuit against the McGehee School District in Arkansas, its principal, and superintendent, Kymberly says she was forced to share the valedictorian title with a white student, whose GPA is lower.

Wimberly, who is a teenage mom, also contends, "Defendants did not support African-American students," and that they didn't want to see an African-American young mother as valedictorian. Wimberly's mother, Molly Bratton, is a school employee, and overheard coworkers discussing her daughter's valedictorian status, expressing concern that Wimberly's status as valedictorian might cause a "big mess."

[Courthouse News]