In the video, Pearce can be seen standing in a circle with an anchor and weather forecaster imitating the team of ‘magic circle’ and ball handling. As you prepare to throw the ball to Pearce, throw the weatherman instead of a mandarin.
“You did not expect that one,” says the weatherman, laughing and then throwing the ball to Pearce who responds, “I certainly was not – here you can take that back” when he returns the fruit.
The station indicates an apology
WBRC News Director Shannon Isbell on Monday published an apology to Pearce in a statement.
Pearce told CNN that he was ‘shocked’ when the banana landed in his hand and that he felt ‘completely disgusted’.
“I could not tell if it was reality or not because I was in such disbelief that this could happen on a live television segment,” he said.
Pearce said he hesitated to talk about the incident when it first happened, but said the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others aroused his emotions and made him watch the incident.
Asked if he thought the incident happened because the anchors were unaware of the racial context of throwing a banana at a Black person or if it was motivated by racism, Pearce said “I can not say one or “, but said” it is not acceptable for someone who has so much experience “and live close to the birth of the civil rights movement to be unaware of history.
“The lack of cultural awareness is extremely shocking and it tells a lot about the state of this country,” he said.
Isbell also told AL.com that the station had been in talks with Pearce and that they were happy to have him on the show.
“We are grateful for the many enlightening, educational conversations we have had with Max over the past two months,” Isbell said in the story. “I was glad he had him on our show about race inequality and belief that was aired last Friday.”
Pearce told CNN that although the station issued an apology, he had not yet heard or received a direct apology from the anchors and “at this point it will not be honest to me.”
CNN reached out to Isbell and WBRC on Tuesday, but received no response.
‘This is disrespectful on the level of me as a Black man’
The professional basketball community has been focused on racial violence and discrimination in the wake of police killings of Black people. After the season ended on March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic, several players, including Lebron James, have advocated Black Lives Matter through their social media platforms. The NBA and WNBA have also danced political statements over their jerseys, wearing warmup shirts with messages from social justice such as “Say Her Name” and “I Am a Man” instead of their last name.
Born in Tuckahoe, New York, Pearce studied at a Purchasing College and participated in the Globetrotters in 2018 after winning the Dark Horse Dunk Competition. He said current and former Harlem Globetrotters have been very supportive of him.
Pearce also said he learned from his experience not to brush off incidents like his off and said he hopes his experience will inspire others to respond when they witness or have a similar experience. He also said the problem is bigger than what happens with a Harlem Globetrotter.
“At the end of the day, the crux of this problem is that this happened to me as a black man. I think a lot of people get so hung up on the fact that I was in a Harlem Globetrotter uniform when this happened. ,” he said.
“That they’re trying to draw parallels to the fun that the Globetrotters bring and say, ‘Oh well, they just threw fruit and they just wanted to be fun.’ But this is disrespectful on the level of me as a Black man. And in no way should form or form bear fruit on someone who is unknowingly acceptable. “
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