Prior Lake basketball player receives note saying 'get off our team monkey'

Basketball.
Basketball. Photo credit Getty Images

Prior Lake High School has reportedly canceled the remainder of its girl's basketball season following students allegedly making racist remarks towards Black players.

Twitter posts from a family member of the girl who was the target of the comments showed a piece of paper that read, "get off our team monkey."

The student also shared it, saying that it was the "most heartbreaking moment" of her life and insinuated that it came from another teammate.

She said, "I'm not hurting on the fact that I got called monkey, but I'm hurting because it was people that I loved and respected the most."

"Even to the person that wrote that nasty note, I love them but I hope you find the decency in your heart to change the way you think and the way you see people," the student said. "Black athletes in Prior Lake have always been disrespected from our football players all the way down to the wrestlers, we have always been silent."

The girl's coach announced on Twitter that he was resigning from his position effective immediately and apologized to the sophomore who was targeted.

"I don't condone bullying, racism, and I never will," Demondi Johnson wrote on Twitter, adding that he has attempted to change the culture in Prior Lake.

Johnson continued saying that he and his coaching staff "have decided to not coach the remainder of this season."

With other accusations of racist conduct coming forward this week, the Minnesota State High School League released a statement.

"Recently students, schools and communities have experienced racist events that tell us we as school leaders have more work to do," the statement says. "Mistreatment of anyone on any basis is not only intolerable, it is something we, as educational leaders, unequivocally condemn. Racial, religious, or sexual harassment is simply unacceptable in our schools."

The league also said in its statement that it is committing "to making every effort to ensure that students have a safe environment in which to learn and participate in activities."

A request for comment has been sent to Prior Lake High School.

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