"Afterwards, when we got inside the changing room, some of our teammates questioned why we hadn't received any flowers. We shrugged our shoulders, just as clueless as they were. A few of the girls laughed about it and then one of the other players came over and handed my friend and me some bananas, saying, 'Here, have these.' That was the cherry on top, she said."
"Not receiving flowers was one thing, but as two of only six black girls in the squad, receiving bananas wasn't something I could laugh off and forget about. Was it an accident? Was it the only thing in the dressing room she could give us? Did she mean well by it? I've tried to justify it in many different ways, trying to find any indication that it was an honest mistake."
Mary Fowler experienced racism at Montpellier in 2022 when, at the end of her final season, other departing players were presented with flowers while she and a teammate received nothing and were later handed bananas. Fowler moved to Montpellier at 17 and left three years ago among a group not returning at contract end. Fowler and a friend were two of only six Black players in the squad. The bananas incident left them confused, upset and questioning whether it was accidental, especially when considered alongside other moments at the club that left them feeling similarly excluded. Fowler also faced a pattern of self-harm that she worked to overcome.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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