Lawsuit: Black teacher in school with mostly Black, Hispanic children fired for using book about racial profiling

White parents allegedly complained that “Dear Martin” was “divisive and injected unwelcome political views on systemic racial inequality into their children’s classroom,” prompting Charlotte Secondary School administrators to terminate Markayle Gray.

A Black middle school teacher has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, alleging the institution fired him for using an approved text about racial profiling to educate students.

The federal civil rights lawsuit submitted in the U.S. District Court of Western North Carolina asserts that Charlotte Secondary School terminated English teacher Markayle Gray in February because of racially motivated backlash over his instruction of “Dear Martin.” The lawsuit calls the decision the “latest casualty of book-banning hysteria,” The Charlotte Observer reported. 

According to the lawsuit, Charlotte Secondary administration approved the text before Gray, 30, presented “Dear Martin” to his seventh-grade honors students as part of Black History Month activities. Gray’s lawyer, Artur Davis, said head of school Keisha Rock recommended the book.

A New York Times bestseller, “Dear Martin” is about a Black teenager targeted for his race while attending a prestigious prep school. The student seeks guidance from the Rev. Martin Luther King’s teachings.

“Charlotte Secondary should have been glad to have Markayle Gray as a role model for the young Black men and teenagers at this school,” Davis told The Observer. “They have sent these young leaders-to-be a devastating signal about the price of truth.”

Charlotte Secondary, in the city’s southeast, is a nonprofit charter school that accepts students in grades 6 through 12. According to the lawsuit, it enrolls about 240 pupils, 80% to 85% of whom are Black, Hispanic or biracial.

The lawsuit claims that white parents complained that “Dear Martin” was “divisive and injected unwelcome political views on systemic racial inequality into their children’s classroom,” prompting Charlotte Secondary administrators to terminate Gray on Feb. 2.

On Wednesday, Rock confirmed the lawsuit and forwarded a statement from the Raleigh-based Hartzog Law Group. The law firm claims Gray’s termination “was based on legitimate, nondiscriminatory, non-retaliatory reasons.”

“The school denies any and all allegations of wrongdoing and intends to vigorously defend the suit,” the firm’s Katie Weaver Hartzog added, The Observer reported.

Gray accepted a position in October 2022 and signed a one-year contract subject to renewal. However, the lawsuit alleges his former employer informed him he would be fired immediately due to parental opposition to him. Parents had also complained to the school’s board of directors, which led to the approval of his dismissal.

Charlotte Secondary, the lawsuit contends, failed to take “steps to investigate or examine whether any of the parents’ concerns were rooted in the parents’ own racial bias or resentment,” according to The Observer.

The North Carolina House Republicans approved regulations in March that would restrict how educators can teach about sexism and racism. The vote reportedly followed party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats against.

GOP lawmakers said House Bill 187 aims to stop schools from promoting critical race theory. The GOP-controlled state Senate has yet to take action on the bill.

Gray is suing for “significant damages to compensate for the emotional distress of losing a job he loved,” including front and back pay, lost benefits and legal costs.

“Principal Rock and the Charlotte Secondary Board of Directors seem to care more about bowing to political pressure than they do about following their own procedures and policies,” Davis said, according to The Observer. “All Markayle Gray did was teach a novel his supervisors had already approved, and they fired him for it.”

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