A Black high school history teacher is suing a white tenth-grade student after the pupil was caught leaving a banana in the doorway of his classroom for months.
Joel Mungo, a veteran history teacher who has worked at Menchville High School for 21 years, said starting in October 2021 he noticed a banana placed in his classroom doorway.
‘Someone left a banana at my door. The banana was perfectly placed in the doorway,’ Mungo told
The incident could have been written off as a coincidence but then he said it became a reoccurring incident – with the banana placed in the same spot at least once a month.
And after six instances he had enough.
‘It was clearly a deliberate act,’ Mungo said.
Mungo is one of the few black teachers at the predominately white Virginia high school.
Bananas have been weaponized by racists towards black people, meant to liken them to monkeys who are known to eat the fruit.
Joel Mungo, (pictured) a history teacher at Menchville High School for 21 years said starting in October 2021 he noticed a banana placed in his classroom doorway
‘Someone left a banana at my door. The banana was perfectly placed in the doorway,’ Mungo said
Mungo turned to school administrators who pulled up surveillance footage of one of his white 10th grade students walking down the hallway with the fruit in hand
Mungo turned to school administrators who pulled up surveillance footage of one of his white 10th grade students walking down the hallway with the fruit in hand.
After finding the culprit Mungo said he gave the student an opportunity to fess up, but he denied any wrong doing.
‘I gave the student a chance to come clean. I asked him, ”Hey did you do this?” He said ”No,” he played dumb, “No idea what you’re talking about.” So I said “OK, go down to the assistant principal.” I’m the only Black teacher he has. He has six other teachers. No other teachers were involved,’ Mungo told WAVY 10.
Mugo said when he contacted the parents they initially seemed ’embarrassed’ but once the student was suspended for two days they became ‘irate.’
Mungo said he was so upset by the situation that he took a day off from work.
‘It’s 2022. Just to have some type of hate crime is absolutely ridiculous. I was sickened,’ he said.
‘It’s 2022. Just to have some type of hate crime is absolutely ridiculous. I was sickened,’ Mungo (pictured) said
Mungo (pictured) is one of the few black teachers at the predominately white Virginia high school
An attorney said Mungo would probably have a better case against Menchville High School than the student himself
The racist act has disturbed Mungo so much he is now pursuing legal action.
‘I’m just fed up with the racism around, especially at our academic institutions. Coming from the HBCUs and other colleges, the bomb threats, the nooses, the bananas and now it’s streaming into public education,’ he said.
‘It’s time to take a stand and just let people know it will not be tolerated. I know I’m not tolerating it. You have to speak up. You can’t allow it to go on becausbeing forced to sit in a locker littered with banana peels after a teammate threatened to break his knees if he didn’t do it.
The 11-second video showed a player threatening the black teen to sit in the locker that was filled with banana peels.
That player, whose face doesn’t appear in the video, can be heard saying: ‘Or I’ll break both your knees’.
When the black player, whose name or age hasn’t been released, eventually sits down, others in the locker room can be heard shouting: ‘Yeah!’
Moline Police Chief Darren Gault called the incident a ‘disturbing racist scene’.
Gault said the investigation determined the people involved were teammates ‘of both different and similar races to the victim’.
He also said all players involved have been identified and that they are all friends.
‘Regardless of these facts, we all agree that this is a disgusting way to treat a fellow teammate, a fellow human being and most certainly a friend,’ Gault said.
‘We all agree that regardless if the students viewed this as a joke, it is unacceptable behavior.’
Moline Mayor-elect Sangeetha Rayapati, who is also the school board chair, said in a statement that adults have ‘a responsibility to hold individuals involved in this incident accountable’.
‘I speak from the heart when I say we have a responsibility to teach them a better way. It’s awful to know a child was treated that way. It’s awful to know that that child will be marked forever by the incident and the disrespect they received. And it’s awful to know other children would see this as a joke,’ she said.
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