Racism in the Midstate - Do You Believe This Is How It Goes Down In Hendersonville?...This Is Now A National Story!

A local story about racism in a mid-state school has made national news.

A Hendersonville mom is suing a Sumner County school after allegations of racism at a mid-state high school, saying the school system didn’t do enough to stop the verbal abuse against her daughter.

Wanda Rice is the mother of former Hendersonville High School student Shannon Rice – a black student who was on the girls’ basketball team earlier this year.

Wanda says her daughter was verbally abused, shoved and insulted by her fellow teammates because she was black.

A lawsuit, set to be filed Tuesday, claims teammates called Shannon the N-word several times while on the team, and they even joked that the locker rooms “smelled like black people” when she or another African American teammate was in it.

The lawsuit says even the coaches who heard the taunting laughed along with the students at times.

Wanda says she sent a complaint letter to the Director of Sumner County schools in February, and a response indicated an investigation would be started, but Wanda says that was last she’s heard of it.

Shannon Rice has left Hendersonville High and is now being home schooled.

This is the second such discrimination case involving similar incidents with the Hendersonville High School girls’ basketball team.

In response to the first case, the Sumner County Schools said they followed their policies and procedures and they deny the allegations against them.

Follow the story and see a local news report here