A six-year-old girl was kicked out daycare for wearing a "Black Lives Matter" t-shirt. Deval Brockman said that a teacher at His Kids Preschool in Russellville contacted her last week and said that she didn't "agree" with the message on her daughter Journei's shirt.

"She was like 'I don't like it, I don't agree with it,' and I would prefer it if you didn't send her to school in it again," Brockman told KARK.

Brockman contacted state officials and was told that as long her daughter's shirt did not have profanity, she could wear it daycare. A few days later, Journei wore a shirt with a raised fist on the back.

"If I'm supporting something, I'm going to wear it, my child is going to wear it, to help say that our voice needs to be heard," said Brockman.

When Deval went to pick up her daughter, she was informed that Journei was no longer welcome at the school. Officials at the school said the t-shirt was racist and divisive.

"They kept saying, 'It's racist. You're teaching your kid there's color,'" Brockman told the New York Daily News. "Well, there is color. If they can't see that, they'll never understand. But it's something they need to know."

Deval was not happy and became incensed when the school's director criticized how she was raising her daughter.

"He was like, 'I am not going to tell you how to raise your child, but you need to reevaluate how you're parenting her,'" said Brockman.

Brockman said it was difficult trying to explain to Journei why she couldn't go back to daycare.

"She got really upset and started crying that she couldn't see her friends and teachers anymore. I had to tell her she didn't do anything wrong," Brockman said.

The daycare center issued a brief statement about the matter:

"Due to the threat of allegations and under the advisement of the council, His Kids Learning Center will only be releasing this written statement concerning The Brockman's:

We feel a childcare environment is not a place for a parent's political views to be addressed or played out, regardless of race."

Photo: KARK-TV

Calendar Events

640 WHLO · Akron's News Weather and Traffic Station