A high school football coach in Charleston, S.C. was fired this past Monday after allegations of racist behavior by his mostly-white squad came to the surface. With the team performing a watermelon-smashing ritual after game wins, it appears that the team was mocking Black players.
Charleston County School District superintendent Dr. Nancy McGinley said Tuesday that Academic Magnet High football head coach Bud Walpole was fired after an investigation into the post-game ritual and news of “chanting sounds” being made.
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Early information about the scandal only showed the students were breaking open watermelons and eating them after victories. McGinley said reports from people at other schools suggested they were making “animalistic or monkey-like chants” after the games.
Further, the students also drew a face on each watermelon and named them, according to McGinley. She said the investigation revealed the students also named the watermelons Junior and Bonds Wilson.
Bonds Wilson is the name of the formerly predominantly-black school in North Charleston where Academic Magnet now sits.
The Charleston branch of the NAACP announced this morning plans for a press conference. The conference will be held at the NAACP’s downtown facility in the city at 1:30 p. m. ET.
McGinley says that school officials called the watermelon smashing an “innocent ritual” and didn’t see the potential for harm in it. A Charleston County School District board member then added the complaints of the “animalistic or monkey-like chants” during games.
Academic Magnet’s one lone Black player, Darius Nwokike, started a Change.org petition to reinstate Coach Walpole.
Watch WCIV’s news report below.
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