Pleasant Valley parents sue district over racially offensive video

BETTENDORF, Iowa (KWQC) - Pleasant Valley parents have filed a lawsuit against the school district, the Board of Education, the Pleasant Valley superintendent and the principle of Pleasant Valley High School over a racially offensive video posted two years ago by two students to Tik Tok.

The video, which TV6 will not air or post, shows two white teenagers. One of whom is dressed in a blackface mask, while the other pretends to beat him. The video goes along to background music that repeats racial slurs.

In the end, the teenager pretends to shoot the one in blackface execution style.

Now, parents of a Black Pleasant Valley student are suing for emotional damage after they say the student was made aware of the video.

According to the petition filed on January 18, the video was originally posted in January of 2020. The lawsuit does not state where it was recorded.

The petition says that the school was aware of the video at the time it was originally posted but did not inform parents until it was re-posted in December of 2021. It claims that by failing to notify parents of its existence, it prevented them from being able to protect their children.

The 21 page document states that the two students involved in the video still attend Pleasant Valley High School, and claims they received no repercussions for their actions in the video. The lawsuit says the video depicts a hate crime under Iowa law.

The petition goes on to say that the school failed to provide a safe environment for students by not giving a punishment for the video. It further states that the child of the Plaintiffs suffered from fear of “immediate physical harm and/or injury” because of the video.

Now, the parents state they want compensation for the damages the video caused due to the lack of action the district took.

TV6 reached out to the Pleasant Valley School District and they declined to comment. We will provide any further updates when they become available.

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