Minnesota School Faces Lawsuit Over Racist ‘Wigger Day’
The suit alleges that despite student council voting on a “tropical theme” for homecoming in 2009, a group of approximately 60 students from the predominantly white school instead attended the event dressed for “Wigger Wednesday” in “oversized sports jerseys, low-slung pants, baseball hats cocked to the side and ‘doo rags.’”
“Wigger is a pejorative slang term for a white person who emulates the mannerisms, language and fashions associated with African-American culture,” the complaint explains.
Students also referred to the activity as “Wangsta Day” — meaning “white gangsta” or “Red Winger gangsta” — and created a Facebook group advocating for the event. (Warning: This Facebook link contains offensive language.)
The plaintiff, former Red Wing High School student Quera Pruitt, an African American, claims that the school’s lack of intervention caused her “severe emotional distress including depression, loss of sleep, stress, crying, humiliation, anxiety, and shame.” Pruitt filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Minnesota on behalf of an unnamed class of “all students who experienced discrimination as a result of Wigger Day.” The complaint states the class could include more than 40 people.
Pruitt’s attorney, Joshua Williams, says her family hoped the incident would be addressed following “Wigger Day” 2008. While it was never an officially-sanctioned school event, the family discovered “Wigger Wednesday” was something of a tradition.