A local history teacher is suing one of his former pupils, alleging that he was subjected to several acts of racism.
Joel Mungo had never seen anything like it in his 21 years as a history teacher at Menchville High School.
โSomeone left a banana at my door. The banana was perfectly placed in the doorway,โ Mungo told 10 On Your Side.
Mungo shared photos shot two weeks ago with 10 On Your Side. The first incident occurred in October.
โThen it happened once a month,โ Mungo explained.
Mungo’s classroom entryway always had a banana in the same place.
โIt was clearly a deliberate act,โ Mungo stated.
Mungo decided enough was enough after the sixth time.
Mungo alerted Menchville administration, who reviewed CCTV footage and discovered the alleged perpetrator: a 10th-grader in one of Mungo’s classrooms.
โI gave the student a chance to come clean. I asked him, โHey did you do this?โ He said โNo,โ he played dumb, โNo idea what youโre talking about.โ So I said โOK, go down to the assistant principal.โ Iโm the only Black teacher he has. He has six other teachers. No other teachers were involved,โ Mungo said.
Mungo claims that the student’s parents were notified, and that he was suspended for two days and removed from Mungo’s class.
โInitially when the parents were contacted, the parents seemed to be truly embarrassed. Then when the student was suspended and the parents were informed, then the parents were irate. Itโs 2022. Just to have some type of hate crime is absolutely ridiculous. I was sickened. I was highly upset. So upset, I took the next day off. I didnโt go to work that Friday,โ Mungo recalled.
Mungo is currently taking legal action in response to the discriminatory incident.
โIโm just fed up with the racism around, especially at our academic institutions. Coming from the HBCUs and other colleges, theย violence threats, the nooses, the bananas and now itโs streaming into public education. Itโs time to take a stand and just let people know it will not be tolerated. I know Iโm not tolerating it. You have to speak up. You canโt allow it to go on because then it will just continue to go on,โ Mungo said.
A representative for Newport News Public Schools tells 10 On Your Side that the district is looking into the claim and has met with Mungo to discuss the discriminatory incident.
The article is paraphrased from the following: EXCLUSIVE: Local history teacher sues student after acts of racism, Michelle Wolf, Apr 4, 2022 / 10:34 PM EDT, https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/newport-news/exclusive-local-history-teacher-sues-student-after-acts-of-racism/