Nyack Demands Probe Of Pearl River's Racist Taunts At Game

NYACK, NY — Fans of the Pearl River High School basketball team taunted a black basketball player from Nyack High School during a game Wednesday, and Nyack district leaders are calling for a formal investigation. Both schools are in Section 1 Athletics.

The taunts can be clearly heard in a video posted on Twitter by a Nyack fan account, @NYACKHSHOOPS.

Nyack basketball players said were shocked. "You hear it but you don't believe it," team captain Harrison Jordan told The Journal News Thursday.

Pearl River Superintendent Marco F. Pochintesta promised to deal with the students under the school's code of conduct.

This was the fifth hate incident at Pearl River High School this year, TJN reported. Items displaying support for LGBTQ have been vandalized three times, and racist taunts were heard from Pearl River's student section during a basketball game against Suffern High School Jan. 28.

Here's what the Nyack school board and superintendent wrote to their community:

Here's the whole text of Pochintesta's letter to the Pearl River community:

At last night’s varsity basketball game versus Nyack High School, a very disturbing incident was reported in which student spectators from PRHS could be heard making monkey noises while students of color on the Nyack team took free throws. I am outraged by these actions and the harm they have caused. This behavior will not be tolerated under any circumstances and the students involved will be addressed through the District’s Code of Conduct. The actions of these individuals do not in any way represent the values and expectations of our school district or our community. While I am deeply disappointed by the behavior of these students, I believe this and other recent incidents of disrespect in our school community should serve as a message to each of us to participate in creating positive change. The Pearl River School District is responsible for part of this work, but we need the support of the entire school community. Parents can help by reinforcing with your children the importance of treating all people with respect and dignity. As a community, we must all encourage open dialogue with children about these topics and we must all provide the tools and modeling to help students create a culture in which this type of behavior is not acceptable. The Pearl River School District and our community must not be identified by acts of intolerance. Let us be identified by our resolution to stand together against them. Our school district is very closely connected to our school community in so many ways. I plan to address these issues with the assistance of the community’s resources and my outreach in this regard is underway.