In the lawsuit, Clark v. State Public Charter School Authority, filed Dec. 22 in federal court in Nevada, the young plaintiff William Clark and his mother Gabrielle Clark claim their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were being violated. Students were allegedly told that by refusing to identify with an oppressive group, they were exercising their privilege or underscoring their role as an oppressor.

The lawsuit was filed by the Illinois-based group Schoolhouse Rights, whose website describes its mission as supporting "civil rights litigation in defense of students' freedom of conscience in public education and the rights of parents to guide and direct the upbringing of their children."

The student at Democracy Prep in Las Vegas whose mother is black and deceased father was white, claims there was a hostile classroom environment, and that he felt discriminated against in the mandatory, year-long "Sociology of Change" course required for graduation. There is another required class, "Change the World," in which students carry out a political or social work project.