A high school basketball player in Texas was met with racist chants in the student section.
Kylie OSullivan via Unsplash
A high school basketball player called the student section’s actions “sad, heartbreaking and unnecessary” after she was targeted by monkeys during a game in Texas.
The incident occurred on Friday, November 18, when East Central High School’s Asia Prudhomme girls basketball team faced off against Marble Falls High School.
When Prudhomme stepped to the free throw line in the first quarter, a monkey’s scream could be heard by several people in the stands. Prudhomme is the star player of the East Central, avg 18.4 points and 7.9 rebounds for the game.
This is reported by KSAT chants were directed at Prudhomme during the first half until a parent spoke with a Marble Falls administrator at halftime.
In a Twitter post on Saturday, Prudhomme called out the students participating in the chant to be punished.
“You can’t even play basketball without ignorance and racism in the stands,” said Prudhomme, who is Black. “It really broke my heart, my coaches and my teammates.”
Marble Falls won the game 58-50. The school has not commented on the incident, but has canceled Saturday’s game “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Prudhomme’s comments were echoed by East Central head coach Vanessa Villarreal and athletic director Suzette Arriola, who both spoke of the “racial situation that was very offensive and unacceptable.”
“This situation was difficult. It was hard to talk to my girls about it.” Villarreal said on Twitter. “It didn’t spoil our weekend. Our kids are grown and I would like to show what our girls were doing on the bus when we discussed it. Our girls are amazing people who love each other very much! I love them for that!”
“Following the offensive behavior recently displayed by opposing school fans, we want our community to know that ECISD stands behind its players.” Arriola said in a statement. “Diversity is one of our core values. Our coaches and administration believe that “everything means everything”. We are sorry that our players had to put up with this from the crowd and we are working quickly with their administration and coaching staff to resolve this situation.”
East Central High School is in San Antonio, and Marble Falls High School is in Burnet County, about 50 miles northwest of Austin.
