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A Black high school cheerleader was subjected to discrimination and racism by her coaches and teammates, who once forced her to get on all fours and crawl like a "pet" for a white senior, according to a lawsuit.
On Thursday (November 7), the parents of a Black cheerleader at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the school district, administrators, coaches, and booster club members, accusing them of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the student’s equal protection under the 14th Amendment, per the Miami Herald.
During a February 2024 cheer competition, the lawsuit states that a teammate told the Black cheerleader to join other members of the team in a hotel room. When she arrived at the room, the cheerleader was allegedly forced to crawl on all fours and pretend to be a white teammate's "pet" on an imaginary leash.
The girl's teams took videos and photos of the "humiliating" act, according to the lawsuit. On the way back home, a coach allegedly told the cheerleader to not share what happened to her in the hotel room.
The lawsuit further accuses coaches of discrimination since she joined the team in the summer of 2023. Coaches “did everything in their power to take away (her) enjoyment of the sport solely because of her race,” the suit states.
According to the suit, a coach told the girl she wasn't "cheerleader-like" even though she had received an award for her "elite" tumbling skills. The cheerleader was also allegedly assigned to film all of the competition tournaments, leaving her out of many team photos. When the girl was in the photos, the lawsuit states she would be cropped out or "obscured" in online posts.
The Black student was also allegedly forced to get on the team bus last, waiting until her white teammates were "boarded and seated."
“This call back to the Segregation Era was enforced by coaches and the other cheerleaders,” the lawsuit states.
The cheerleader's family is seeking a jury trial.
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