A black high school basketball player was met with monkey noises by the audience as he stepped up to take a shot from the free-throw line.
The Journal News reported that Harrison Jordan, one of the captains of the Pearl River varsity basketball team, heard noises coming from the crowd at Wednesday’s game between them and Nyack High School in upstate New York.
“It happened three different times,” Jordan said. “You hear it, but you don’t believe it.”
Superintendent Eudes Budhai is pursuing a formal investigation after consulting with Pearl River Superintendent Marco Pochintesta about the incident.
So far, both superintendents said they plan to improve their tolerance and education programs, which students will take part in the “Better Together” program on March 4.
Budhai said in a statement to Insider that the Nyack School District and Board of Education “stand firmly and resolutely with our student-athletes in the wake of the racist and reprehensible behavior displayed by members of the Pearl River community.”
He added that anyone who was “involved in this racist behavior” is invited to attend an anti-racism workshop for “an opportunity to learn and do better by our community and our athletes.”
The Nyack school board president Terence Rock says student games and activities are constantly monitored by security and staff.
“At some point, everyone recognized something was wrong,” he said. “Why didn’t any of them say, ‘Stop, hey who did that,’ and ask them to leave.”
“Pearl River needs to let us know why that didn’t happen,” Rock said.
Coach Ethan Smith of the Nyack boys varsity basketball team told The Journal News that the incident was “somewhat surreal.” Smith noted that a member of the Pearl River staff present could have ended the game or told the jeering crowd to leave.
“The first step is that Pearl River holds themselves accountable,” Budhai said, per The Journal News. “We can help.”
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