'Gangster' outfits worn by Janesville Parker students outrage Beloit Memorial student, parent

Nov. 27—JANESVILLE — At a Parker High School girls basketball game against Beloit Memorial on Nov. 23, several Parker students section wore "gangster" themed outfits—a theme that offended some members of the Beloit community.

Parker students were seen wearing "wife beater" tank tops, baggy pants that exposed their underwear, backwards hats, durags and gold chains at the game last Tuesday night. Parker students have been known to dress up in predetermined themes at athletic events in the past.

Mandi Franks, captain of Beloit Memorial's girls varsity basketball team, sent an email to Parker High School Athletic Director Clayton Kreger and Parker Principal Christoper Laue expressing her disappointment at the Janesville student section's attire.

Franks said the choice of outfits were problematic because they mocked Black culture and made light of gang violence, which is a serious problem in Beloit that has affected students at Franks' school.

"The deaths we mourn every day and our peers we watch go to prison every day are not jokes to us, and they should not be jokes to your students," Franks wrote in her letter to Kreger. "I don't understand how this would ever be seen as OK, so maybe Parker as a school needs to have some inclusion and diversity education to prevent this and similar situations in the future."

Franks told The Gazette that a friend of hers saw a post on social media before the game announcing a "gangster" theme for those attending. When Franks arrived at the game, she saw many Parker students in the outfits.

"I knew it was a joke to everybody and I genuinely think they found it funny," Franks told the newspaper. "This is all a joke to them and they took it very lightly. That's why in the email I mentioned that they should include some diversity and culture education or training in their school. I know at Beloit Memorial, we have assemblies all the time that embrace Black culture and Hispanic culture."

Franks said Friday she had not yet heard back from any Parker High School official but hopes they understand why the incident was hurtful. She said no apology would likely assuage she and her teammates.

After all, Franks said this was not the first time her team has been subjected to racially insensitive jokes. She believes her team and Beloit Memorial more generally are targeted in this way is because of the gang violence in Beloit.

"Every time we go on the road and go to things, we are the quote 'ghetto school,'" Franks said. "That's what people call us. People will come [dressed up] as police or SWAT teams to our games. The jokes are never ending. We're [called] 'Blood Memorial.'"

Kathy Crawford, a parent of a Beloit Memorial junior varsity girls basketball player, was also shocked by the "theme" night outfits.

"I have never seen anything like that in my life," Crawford said. "I have four children that have been through sports in this area. We didn't know what was going on at first, because we kept seeing all the kids with bandanas and wife beaters. My daughter came over and said that one young lady [from Parker] had told her it was a 'country vs. ghetto theme.'"

"Why would you guys do that?" asked Crawford, to address the Parker students dressed that way. "It was just so inappropriate."

Crawford said the outfits were in poor taste given the history of racism in Janesville and Beloit. She said the choice showed a lack of empathy and insensitivity toward Beloit Memorial.

"Parker should make better choices when it comes to theme night," Crawford said. "They should probably take other people into account because our kids live that every day. We've had a rough year already. Our kids are losing their friends. This is a bad decision that they [Parker High students] made and they have to suffer the consequences."

Franks said she hopes the school's students will learn from this.

"Everyone on my team knows people our age that have died from gang violence," Franks said. "We all took it very, very personally. That's why we are making such a big deal out of it."

Janesville School District and Parker High School officials could not be reached for comment on Friday, when school was out for the extended Thanksgiving holiday.