The Division of Civil Rights issued its suspension on racist high school referee Alan Maloney, who made a high school wrestler Andrew Johnson cut his locs before a match, claiming that his hairstyle would interfere with the match and cause a safety issue .
Maloney had told Andrew he had two options to either cut his hair, or forfeit the match; Moreover, he according to TMZ only gave the student-athlete 90 seconds to make a decision.
Alan Maloney argued that the length of the hair was a violation on the mat. The problem with his argument, was that it also states that when in fact the length is in question, the athlete is entitled to a legal hair cover, in which Johnson was not offered this option.
The Washington Post has stated, Maloney will be banned for two seasons according to the New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. General. The Attorney also announces, to mandate a implicit basis training for all athletics across the state to prevent incidents like this from happening going forward.
In addition, according to The Washington Post, The New Jersey Civil Rights Division also issued a “Guidance on Race Discrimination Based on Hairstyle” stating,
” treating people differently because of their hairstyle may violate the state’s anti-discrimination laws and to help prevent such discrimination in the future”
What we had here was a clear act of racism and a blatant form of prejudices shown by the ref. He based his actions off of the hair style of the black athlete. Maloney tried to police Andrew Johnson’s hairstyle, which is indeed a form of discrimination.
Why this ordeal was a no first time thing?
What’s swept under the rug, usually finds a way back to light. Back in 2016, Maloney was accused of using racial slurs at a black referee during a post match party.
I think Alan Maloney should be banned from all athletics going forward, not just a two year suspension. He is getting off light in my opinion. You as the legislation shouldn’t settle at all. I believe this is setting forward a standard that these actions can get off as lightly as the sentence. These type of actions can not be tolerated period.
Alan Maloney has filed a suit against the legislation claiming defamation of character and emotional distress.
Flip the page to see video of the original incident.