New Jersey high school football team charges opponent used racial taunts
A New Jersey high school is alleging that its opponent last Friday taunted it with racially charged actions.
North Plainfield High School, which has a large African-American student contingent, claims that bananas were placed in its visitors locker room before a game with Summit High School.
Assistant superintendent of North Plainfield Schools Dr. Robert Rich told The Alternative Press an incident of alleged racism occurred prior to the Summit's 26-0 victory over North Plainfield. Rich also confirmed that there are internal and external investigations into the allegations.
"I have been working on the investigation of the incident with our staff and the Summit Superintendent," Rich said. "The incident has been turned over to New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) for an independent investigation.
A banana "was in the door and you could see through the door, because it didn't have no doorknobs, so you could see right through the hole," North Plainfield football player Anthony Lafond told CBS2 New York. "And they put the banana right through there."
"Right away, there was a banana in the door," North Plainfield football player J.T. Valley told CBS2. "And we told our coach, we're like, 'Coach, there's a banana in there.' So we took the banana, and then all of a sudden, they put another one. And we took the banana out, and there was another one in there. And they kept on putting them in there."
North Plainfield players told CBS2 tears were shed in the locker room before the game.
