Source: the Knoxville Sentinel, February 14, 2003.
Horace Maynard Middle School in Union, Tennessee punished India Tracy, a 14-year-old straight-A student, for not participating in religious events. In addition, the school did not do enough to discourage religiously motivated bullying, which lead to physical assaults on India. Her family is Pagan.
India was sent to the Principal's office for not attending a Christian tent revival during school hours. (Her older sister Tyla was once punished at Union County High School for the same reason. She was given extra classwork in order to "remind" her to bring her permission slip.)
India was sent to the Principal's office when she refused to portray Mary in a Christmas play.
India was forced to attend regular Bible study classes during the school day, and urged to lead the school and her class in prayer.
A teacher told India to "keep quiet because you'll get in trouble" after she wrote a paper about religious freedom.
A bus driver regularly asked India in front of other students if she had gone to church yet and if she'd like to come to church.
Derogatory names were written on her locker in permanent ink, but the school refused to remove the graffiti or move her locker.
She was beaten and ridiculed by other students for not being a Christian ever since 1999, when she refused to go to a religious retreat , and the school system has failed to prevent it. The bullying is so severe that her mother has had to pull her out of school and homeschool her after India started talking about suicide.
India was repeatedly called "Satan worshipper", "witch" and other names. She was accused of "eating babies" and of being a lesbian because she wasn't a Christian.
She was repeatedly attacked as she knelt in front of her bottom-row locker. Her head was bashed at least 10 times, cutting her lip, forehead and nose.
India was chased down the hallway by three boys who grabbed her by the back of the neck and told her she should change her religion or they'd "change it for her."
India's parents have filed a lawsuit asking for $300,000 in damages to pay India's tuition to a private school, legal fees and the cost of psychological counseling. The suit also seeks a court prohibition against "the school system's continued religious indoctrination of children." In spite of the lawsuit as well as a Justice Department investigation, Union County school officials intend to continue the tent revivals, known as the Area Wide Crusade, which are scheduled during school hours, on park property that shares a border with the high school. Children not old enough to be in high school are bused in. The Area Wide Crusade was started in 1998 by a Union County Baptist pastor and will be held again in late April.
Fortunately, some area groups have sponsored a forum about recent religious activity in public schools to bring attention to the religious harassment of India, and to raise funds for India's educational and legal expenses. Over 120 attended the forum, which was open to the public and held at 3:00 PM, April 13, 2003, at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, located at 2931 Kingston Pike, in Knoxville. The complete list of sponsors include:
East Tennessee Interfaith Alliance
The National Conference for Community and Justice
Rationalists of East Tennessee
The Task Force Against Religious Coercion in Schools
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church"
Basically, her family is really struggling to pay for her educational expenses, in addition to the legal fees in their lawsuit against the Union County schoolboard. I think it's really disturbing that this sort of thing goes on. The website earthward.org is taking up donations for India Tracy at http://www.earthward.org/india.shtml ... I know I am going to be giving a few dollars whenever I can. Anything you all can do to help out or to spread the word, would be really appreciated!