Every student in Portland deserves a welcoming, inclusive place to learn. As a community, we demand The Madeleine School and Archdiocese of Portland take action to offer a supportive environment for students of color. 

After a series of racist incidents involving the treatment of Black students at The Madeleine School run by the Archdiocese of Portland, in late March a Black fourth grader was called the “n-word” by a fellow student.

When the parents of the child demanded the school explain what they were doing to address this pattern and create a culture of inclusion at the school, the principal, Tresa Rast, called 9-1-1 to have them removed from campus. A few days later, the school concluded their investigation into the incident without any acknowledgement of wrongdoing and expelled the Black student from the school.

Since this story first came out, many others have come forward to share similar stories of the school's failure to take racism seriously and provide a welcoming environment for all students.

No child, whether they attend a public or private school, should be subject to racist treatment and every school should be committed to creating a welcoming environment free from discrimination.

We demand that The Madeleine and the Archdiocese of Portland:

• Apologize for how this family was treated
• Acknowledge their failures to respond to racist incidents at the school
• Take accountability for creating a welcoming, inclusive structure so this won’t happen again

No donations are required and donations made on the change.org platform do not go to help this family. Thank you!