Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’ Costs Middle School $100k After Parent Sues Because A Teacher Played The Song In Son’s Class

Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’ Costs Middle School $100k After Parent Sues Because A Teacher Played The Song In Son’s Class

A middle school in Vernon, Connecticut will be paying out a hefty settlement soon.

Reports state that the institution recently approved a $100,000 lawsuit settlement, stemming from a teacher playing Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” in the classroom.

Kendrick Lamar

The plaintiff is reportedly a local law enforcement officer who filed the suit against Vernon Center Middle School in 2020. He wrote in the complaint that his son’s eighth-grade social studies classroom was exposed to the documentary Hip Hop: Songs That Shook America by his teacher, causing his child a substantial amount of trauma. Specifically, he argued that the music video for Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 anti-police brutality anthem “Alright” which was a part of the film, “depicted officers as murderers and contained other shockingly violent scenes and controversial statements about police officers.”

The plaintiff claimed the teacher was well aware of his job in law enforcement, and further argued that the incident has caused his son “emotional and psychological distress” as a result of his diagnosed learning disorder and individualized education plan.

He wrote that the damages to his child included:

“post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, shock, confusion, sadness, feeling unsafe, and social withdrawal, some or all of which necessitate psychological treatment and counseling and if unresolved, pose the risk of severe mental illness..Along with physical manifestations that include nausea, headaches, and malaise, the student is also alleged to have been stigmatized for being the child of a police officer, which caused friends and others to disassociate with him, according to the lawsuit.”

He added:

“some or all of the aforementioned injuries necessitated (the student) change schools, as a result of which he has suffered loss and damages.”

On Tuesday (June 4th), council members unanimously voted to approve the suit, and will reportedly finalize the settlement next week. Reports note that the city’s Superintendent Joseph Macary stated about the matter:

“We always do what’s in the best interest of students, and each student is different so each decision is different, but it’s always what’s best for the kids,”

Despite the controversy in this case, Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” has been acclaimed as a culture-shifting record. If you recall, it was used as a unifying anthem during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, and received four nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Music Video, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song, winning the latter two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhspYF8WRVA

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[VIA]