Alabama student settles discrimination suit against high school principal

Jet, July 11, 1994

Less than six months after her high school principal called her very existence "a mistake," Revonda Bowen, a mixed-race student who attended school in Wedowee, AL, has won round one of a battle to regain her dignity and respect.

Bowen, 17, recently settled her discrimination suit against Randolph County High School Principal Hulond Humphries and the school board.

Humphries was suspended with pay in March after reportedly telling Bowen she was a mistake and threatening to cancel the school's April prom if interracial couples attended.

After an investigation the school board voted to reinstate Humphries, who has said his comments were misinterpreted.

Although Bowen's lawyer, Morris Dees, would not go into the specifics of the monetary settlement, he said both he and his client are satisfied.

"It's not a tremendous amount of money because the family wants to do everything they can to pull the community back together," Dees told JET. He added: "It's a good settlement though. The amount is enough to pay for her full education through college."

Bowen, a high school senior whose mother is Black and father is White, said she's undecided about whether she'll attend Randolph County High School in the fall.

"If I knew the principal would be gone, I'd go back for certain. Right now I just don't know," Bowen explained.

She emphasized: "I'm glad that this part is over with, but the cash settlement that I got doesn't make up for all the things that I've been through and all the things that my family has been through. What I'd really like to see is the Justice Department get him out of the school system. No one here has ever really been bold enough to stand up to him."

Bowen said too, that she and her White boyfriend, 19-year-old Chris Brown, are still together. "The older people are the ones who have a problem with it, the younger people don't really care," Bowen maintained.

The teenager said she's received letters from people all over the United States in support of her effort to fight racism. "I'll always remember these last few months, but I'm glad this came out because it lets everyone know how people still are," said Bowen who is working two jobs this summer.

After graduating Bowen said she would like to attend either Carroll Tech Vocational School in Georgia, or West Georgia College, and study in the area of child care.