SENSITIVITY WATCH : Principal Prejudice

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a federal judge to find that an Alabama school district discriminates against black students. The federal action signals a new and long-overdue vigilance by the department’s civil rights division, which in the two previous administrations was accused of being lax in enforcing school desegregation rulings.

At issue in the Alabama case is a principal’s threat to cancel the senior prom in rural Randolph County if any interracial couples planned to attend. When questioned by a student with a black mother and white father, the principal allegedly indicated during a public assembly that the student was a “mistake” and he wanted to keep others from making the same “mistake.”

Those derogatory comments reflect attitudes in a school system that “has allowed an atmosphere of discrimination to persist,” said Deval Patrick, the Clinton Administration’s aggressive new assistant attorney general for civil rights.

The prom was held as scheduled. However, the federal government has questioned the school board’s refusal to discipline or reassign the principal, who was suspended briefly with pay after the incident. Justice Department lawyers also challenge the district’s allegedly discriminatory hiring practices, disciplinary policies and school bus operation. The district has been under a court-approved desegregation plan since 1970.

While this case is perhaps a small one for the Justice Department, its symbolic importance is big. Patrick and his division are on the right track.