A Black high school teacher in Virginia is suing a tenth-grade student for racism after the minor was caught leaving a banana in the doorway of his classroom for months.
Joel Mungo, a history teacher at Menchville High School for 21 years, said he had never seen such an act in his teaching career.
He first noticed a banana outside his classroom door in October 2021, then he found a banana placed on the same spot at least once a month.
"Someone left a banana at my door. The banana was perfectly placed in the doorway,” Mr Mungo told WAVY 10.
"It was clearly a deliberate act," he added.
After the sixth instance, the teacher reported the incident to the school administration who found out through the surveillance footage that the person responsible was one of his students from the tenth grade.
After contacting the student's parents, the pupil was put on a two-day suspension and removed from his class.
“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'," Mr Mungo told the television station.
“I’m the only Black teacher he has. He has six other teachers. No other teachers were involved,” Mr Mungo said. Bananas are used as a prop to mock Black people by racists who liken them to monkeys.
Mr Mungo said he was “highly upset” and had to take the next day off. “It’s 2022. Just to have some type of hate crime is absolutely ridiculous. I was sickened”.
Mr Mungo, fed up with the racist act, decided to sue the student.
“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 because then it will just continue to go on,” Mr Mungo added.
