NEW ORLEANS – A family is calling for answers and an apology after catching an item during a St. Patrick’s Day parade they say had a racial slur written across it, according to WWL-TV.
Jennifer Lawrence told WWL-TV her daughter caught a banana at the St. Patrick’s Day Metairie Road Parade on Sunday with a racial slur etched into it.
“So you’re traveling near and far to come show support and this is what we get, a banana with a vile word on it, for what reason?” she said. “This is unacceptable. I don’t know if this is the only banana they had, there could be several more, we never know.”
Lawrence said she was shocked when her 24-year-old daughter texted her a picture of the banana.
“For you to go out and support someone and receive, something as vile as this, it just changes your mood about supporting certain groups and organizations,” Lawrence said. “This shouldn’t happen, not just to my child, but to any child.”
Lawrence’s sister-in-law Danielle Santiago says the family is outraged.
“From where I sit there will be no attending St Patrick’s day parades ever again,” Santiago said. “It’s not acceptable, we need an explanation and we need to be assured or have some type of assurance, to know that this will not happen going forward, in the future.”
Parade President, Dan Civello, says each rider must read the rules and regulations before signing on. The very first rule states “No offensive or obscene throws… Violation of this rule will result in immediate ejection from the parade.”
“We pride ourselves on being a family-friendly parade and we don’t put up with this,” Civello said. “I’m heartbroken too, we don’t want to see this kind of stuff.
“I am anxious to get to the bottom of this and my apology to the family that had to endure this thing, I apologize to them.”
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