Girls basketball team finds black mannequin strung up in Clark changing room

Update: The mother of another Clark student says the mannequin was part of an art project — meant to look like Lebron James.

CLARK — The visiting Plainfield High School girls basketball team found a black mannequin strung up in a changing room at a Clark High school Saturday.

A picture of the mannequin was included in a Facebook post by Andre Payton. What appeared to be a basketball was at the top of a string that went around around the mannequin's neck. The display was found in an art room at the Arthur L. Johnson High School, where the visiting team had been assigned to change.

"Our coach said there was other dolls/muppets in the room but this particular one had a string around the neck with a basketball on top so I wouldn't call this an indirect message this is a clear message of hate and racism!!!!" Payton wrote.

Update: The mother of another Clark student says the mannequin was part of an art project — meant to look like Lebron James.

According to the 2010 Census, Clark is a largely white community — with 93 percent of its residents classified as white, and just .10 classified as black. Plainfield, by contrast, is 50 percent black and just 23 percent white.

Plainfield team announcer Terrence Johnson told TAP into Clark  the game was played as scheduled. He praised Plainfield Cardinals coach Keshon Bennett for his handling of the situation.

"With his actions today of taking the high road to ensure the safety of our Plainfield girls without flipping out shows he is good for the Plainfield community," he told the news site.

In a statement, Clark superintendent Edward Grande acknowledged the picture after it went viral on social media.

"The Clark Board Education and the Clark Community does not condone any demonstrations of intolerance. The board will promptly and thoroughly investigate this matter to determine what occurred following the basketball game on Jan. 7 and will take remedial action as necessary," Grande said.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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