A black boy, underage, football player, mocked and forced by his teammates to sit in a locker with bananas hanging inside. Threatened, pushed between the shouts and laughter of others. A sad scene, between bullying and racism, which took place a few days ago in the United States, at the Moline Institute, 200 kilometers from Chicago, Illinois. All filmed, with a phone, in an 11-second video in which the hand of the young white man is seen pushing the black boy to sit in the seat covered with bananas. The episode that took place on Thursday 8 April at Moline High School, before the high school football team left to play an away game. The pictures show the little black boy shaking his head in distress. He doesn’t want to sit under bananas. Around him you can hear several laughter, then a threat: Go in there or I’ll break both knees, screams the young white who takes the scene and points to the locker. The victim, still wearing his number 22 uniform and the disconsolate face, he sits down while a resounding s is coming from the group.
The investigations
The video, shared on social media and quickly became viral, ended up in the hands of the Moline police, whose boss Darren Gault called the scene racist and disturbing. Investigations underway to clarify the matter: We all agree that, regardless of whether the students consider it a joke, this is unacceptable behavior, added Gault. The investigators questioned the players, the coach and all the members of the team’s technical staff, presenting the dossier on the affair to the prosecutor. The high school also opened an internal investigation. The young student, whose name was not disclosed as a minor, said he was fine. He would have received an apology from his companions and, we read in the statement issued by the young man via the Rock Island County Attorney’s Office, he would like people to stop talking about the incident. Then, as if to protect his teammates from the wave of indignation and anger that caused the story, he added that in the team they are all good guys, I know them well. I spoke individually with the people involved. They apologized and I told them how I felt. So please don’t threaten them now. In short, he would like to try to resume his life normally: Everyone is worried about me and I really appreciate that. But I’m fine – he continued -. I’ve already told the police and my friends how I feel. I want to be treated like a human being, not as a victim.
April 15, 2021 (change April 15, 2021 | 08:28)
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