*A New Jersey ref’s career as a wrestling official is in doubt after he made Black high school athlete Andrew Johnson cut his dreadlocks before a match.
As reported by cbsnews.com, a New Jersey school district says its wrestling team will no longer compete in events officiated by Alan Maloney, the white referee who told Johnson to lose his dreadlocks or forfeit his bout. The groups that assign referees previously said they wouldn’t assign the ref while the incident is under investigation.
An attorney for the teen’s family said they won’t pursue legal action.
Johnson made headlines last week when he agreed to have his dreadlocks cut minutes before the match on Dec. 19. He had a head cover but Maloney said it wasn’t good enough.
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People from all across South Jersey showed up the day after Christmas for an emergency school board meeting. Those here are in support of the Buena Regional High School wrestler, Andrew Johnson. Many say the 16-year-old didn’t really have a choice in cutting his locks. @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/W1MMv6B5cw
— Kimberly Davis CBS3 (@KimberlyDavisTV) December 26, 2018
“I couldn’t believe that this pig would humiliate that kid on the mat,” Steve Martinelli said at an emergency meeting held Wednesday evening with the Buena Regional school board and members of the community.
“This young man will never ever forget the physical and mental toll he took that night,” Action Together New Jersey Civil Rights Director Rachel Green said. Â “As a mother raising children in this area, it broke my heart. It didn’t matter if he was black, white, green or purple.”
The family’s attorney says the blame is on the referee that night. @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/muTiBcACVx
— Kimberly Davis CBS3 (@KimberlyDavisTV) December 26, 2018
Green would like to see procedures put in place to prevent this type of humiliating incident from recurring.
“You had to have an ugly situation like this happen for them to address this,” Green said. Â “It speaks to something tells me this isn’t the first time something ugly like this has happened. I think people just thought this was OK.”
Full statement from the family of Andrew Johnson including many new details on the abuse he suffered at his recent wrestling match. pic.twitter.com/ok6lkCqk1d
— Shaun King (@shaunking) December 24, 2018
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