Black Cheerleader Portrayed As White Teammate’s ‘Pet’ While Taking Photos, Pennsylvania Lawsuit Claims

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Another day, another incident that indicates Black student-athletes aren’t always safe on predominately white sports teams.

A Black cheerleader at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was allegedly made to pretend to be a white senior cheerleader’s “pet” on an imaginary leash while the team was staying at a hotel in Florida for the UGA National High School Cheerleading Championships, the Miami Herald reported. The alleged incident took place in February, and, now, the Black teenager, a 16-year-old freshman, and her parents are suing the Cumberland Valley School District and multiple administrators, coaches and members of the booster club. The suit accuses the defendants of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the student’s equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

According to the suit, which was filed last Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Black student, who hasn’t been identified by name, received a call from her teammate to go to another room where the rest of the team had gathered. When she walked into the room, she was allegedly made to crawl on all fours and pretend to be her teammate’s pet while her teammates took videos and photos of the “humiliating” act. The suit also alleges that one of the student’s coaches instructed her to keep quiet about what happened during the flight back home.

The suit also states that the pet incident is hardly an isolated incident of racism the student has faced at her school.

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From the Herald:

Coaches “did everything in their power to take away (her) enjoyment of the sport solely because of her race,” and it started when she joined the team in the summer of 2023, the lawsuit said.

The student was told she wasn’t “cheerleader-like” by one of the coaches, despite receiving an award for her “elite” tumbling skills, according to court documents.

The cheerleader was also singled out as the person to film all of the competition tournaments, which left her out of many team photos, the lawsuit said. Even if the girl was in the photos, she would sometimes be cropped out or “obscured” in online posts, according to court documents.

When getting on a bus to go to a football game, the Black student was made to wait to get on the bus until her white teammates were “boarded and seated,” according to the lawsuit. “This call back to the Segregation Era was enforced by coaches and the other cheerleaders,” according to court documents. This act was witnessed by school faculty and officials, the complaint said.

It’s unclear what damages the 40-page lawsuit seeks, but the student and her family are demanding a jury trial.

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