Washington State high school has been placed on probation after several of its students taunted Black basketball players with “money jeers.”
On May 22, Connell High School played Zillah High School. According to Newsweek, several students in the bleachers began to shout “monkey” at two Black players on the Zillah team.
Brandie Valadez, the team’s coach, quickly became aware of the racial taunts and yelled, “That is very racist. That is racist.”
Last month, Doug Burge, the superintendent of the Zillah School District, confirmed that an investigation was underway.
“In Zillah School District, we value diversity and strive to create schools and environments that are both physically safe and emotionally nurturing for our students. We take these allegations very seriously and are committed to aiding in Connell School District’s investigation to the best of our abilities,” he said at the time.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) hit Connell High School with one-year probation and a $1,000 fine.
“Any show of racism is inexcusable and will not be tolerated in our district. We take these allegations seriously and, while we are unable to share disciplinary details due to privacy laws, we will assure appropriate consequences are administered,” North Franklin School District Superintendent Jim Jacobs said in a statement.
Connell High School must use the fine to develop a region-wide Student Sportsmanship Conference for high school students, addressing respect and anti-discriminatory behavior. The school’s administrators and coaches must also participate in an implicit bias class. They are also barred from hosting any competitions for a year.
The roots of Black people being compared to apes go back centuries. European scientists used to claim that the “negro skull” contained a smaller brain volume and thicker cranial bones than that of the whites. That also the skin of Black people, their body odor and their general body shapes were far more similar.
Of course, it’s all bs.
