It may seem bizarre, but it’s true. A high school teacher in Virginia is suing a student at a high school over a fruit. But while it might sound outlandish, there actually could be a hate crime tied into the actions that culminated over the school year, as the student was repeatedly placing a banana in the doorway of a Black teacher at the school.
The incident happened on numerous occasions this year. Joel Mungo is a Black history teacher at Menchville High School. In his 21 years teaching there, he has never seen anything quite like this. The teacher told 10 On Your Side news that someone had been leaving the bananas perfectly placed in his classroom doorway throughout the year, and that it usually happened once a month. Finally fed up and feeling like it was likely directed at him as a hate crime, he eventually reported the problem to administrators who caught one of his 10th-grade students in the act on surveillance footage.
In his extended duration of teaching at the school, this is Mungo’s first time experiencing anything like a hate crime. Bananas have long been symbolically used in racial acts by white supremacists. They use them to compare African-Americans to monkeys. “It was clearly a deliberate act,” Mungo said.
After finding the culprit, Mungo told reporters that he gave the student a chance to come clean. But even after confronting the 10th grader, the student denied it was him. But with clear evidence against him, the student was disciplined in the form of a two-day suspension along with being transferred out of Mungo’s class. Mungo is the only Black teacher the student has and was also the only one he pulled the act on. Mungo is certain it was a hate crime. And he was prepared to seek further action against the student.
According to the FBI, a hate crime is a traditional offense, but with an added element of bias towards a group of people. More specifically, the bias can be against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. The incident was undoubtedly a hate crime in Mungo’s opinion, and it’s having lasting effects.
“It’s 2022. Just to have some type of hate crime is absolutely ridiculous. I was sickened”, Mungo said. He went on to convey how much the act and the lack of action from the school bothered him afterward. “I was highly upset. So upset, I took the next day off. I didn’t go to work that Friday.” He also told reporters that the major reason he is filing suit against the child is that he is “fed up with the racism,” but not just with regards to his alleged hate crime at the Mencvhille High School.
Mungo went on to discuss the recent rise in hate crimes, specifically targeted towards Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) during February, which coincidentally was Black History Month. During that time, more than 36 HBCUs were the targets of bomb threats. Of those, 18 were reported on the first of the month alone.
One lawyer thinks Mungo can go much farther than just pursuing legal action against the student. Attorney Ali Shahrestani told Newsweek that Mungo could have also taken legal action against the school. According to the lawyer, a two-day suspension as a ramification for an alleged hate crime in a “predominantly white” public school is insufficient. Moreso, Shahrestani feels the school should have immediately expelled the student, who is obviously old enough to know what a hate crime is.
While Mungo has announced his plan to sue the student, it is unclear as of now what his suit is seeking. Similarly, Mungo could further sue administrators or the school itself. Whatever the outcome, the school needs to send a clear message that hate crimes of any type should not be tolerated whatsoever.
*story by go2tutors
(*) www.WhitePrideHomeSchool.com
