Victim of racial taunt keeps negativity at bay
SAN ANTONIO — Asia Prudhomme still flashes her big smile. Finding positivity amid life’s obstacles always has been her strength.
But that was tested in November when Prudhomme, who is Black, was the target of a racial taunt during a basketball game at Marble Falls High School.
As the East Central senior stood at the free-throw line, a fan in the stands mimicked a monkey.
The incident was a harsh glimpse of reality.
“Asia loves everybody,” said Pamela Prudhomme, her grandmother. “She finds the good in everything and everybody. I think this kind of opened her eyes to the real world.”
The incident, which happened Nov. 18, drew national attention after Asia posted a video of it on Twitter.
“This is sad, heartbreaking and uncalled for. Can’t even play basketball without ignorance and racism in the stands. This really broke my heart, my coaches and my teammates,” she tweeted two days after the incident occurred.
The video has more than 80,000 views on Twitter. Asia did not intend for it to be a viral moment. She simply wanted an outlet to express how much she hurt.
It drew the attention of national outlets — such as TMZ — and thrust the low-key Asia into a national spotlight.
Asia conducted a Nov. 21 news conference via Zoom with local and national media outlets.
Two weeks after the incident, Marble Falls Independent School District Superintendent Chris Allen emailed parents of the East Central team with details of an investigation the district was conducting.
Allen, also speaking on behalf of Marble Falls High School Principal Damon Adams, said they apologized to Asia, her grandparents, East Central’s players and school administrators.
“I thought it would touch a few people,” Asia said. “I didn’t think it was going to blow up like that. I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ ”
Lingering effects
Three months have passed, but the incident from that ugly day lingers.
“I still think about it every time I step up onto the freethrow line,” Asia said. “Is somebody going to make monkey noises at me again? It makes me nervous. I don’t want to go through that situation again.”
Asia did not hear the noises while she took the free throws. No one on the team did.
The incident occurred right before halftime of the Hornets’ tournament game against host Marble Falls at the Hill Country Classic.
School was in session, and students, who got to skip class to attend, packed the gym.
The gym was noisy, and it was difficult to hear the racial taunt. East Central coach Vanessa Villarreal learned of the incident after the game when a parent showed her video that included the monkey noise.
The raucous atmosphere combined with Villarreal being issued a technical foul for what she thought was loose officiating elevated the emotions.
“I was already on a high level of mad,” Villarreal said of her initial reaction to the video. “I felt that environment had set it up. … There was a lot of aggression, and then there was the fans adding to it. It was just rowdy all the way across.”
Villarreal asked Asia if she heard any racial slurs directed at her.
Asia replied: “No, ma’am. Why?”
Villarreal then played the video for her.
“My heart shattered,” Asia said. “It’s 2022. Why are we still on this? Why are we still doing racism in 2022? We are all supposed to be equal.”
Asia is grateful it was Villarreal who broke the news to her.
“It meant a lot to me that she told me before I saw it on the internet,” Asia said. “If I would have seen it (first) on the internet, I would have lost my mind. She was preparing me for what was coming.”
Villarreal has been Asia’s advocate since becoming the Hornets coach two years ago.
It was Villarreal who informed teachers of a hearing impairment Asia had. Often misunderstood as aloof, Asia simply could not hear most of what was being discussed in class. Most of her teachers had no idea.
Asia is deaf in her right ear and has partial hearing in her left ear. She was diagnosed with the hearing loss when she was 3 years old.
When she was a baby, Asia spent several weeks in the hospital with meningitis. Her grandmother is unsure if that was the cause of Asia’s hearing loss.
For years, she refused to wear an external hearing aid. She grew tired of explaining why she had one. She learned to read lips.
In 2020, Asia had a cochlear implant inserted in her left ear. During games, she wears a headband to keep the external component of the device in place.
“I’m a quiet kid,” Asia said. “I don’t talk that much in class. Just being asked questions or being called out to the front of the class makes me nervous. … Now, that I’m older, I realize how important it is for people to know about my hearing.”
‘I was devastated’
As much as she hurt, Asia was concerned for grandparents, who adopted her and older sister Deja.
“When you hear about these things, you say, ‘Oh, you know, people should be ashamed’ or, ‘That shouldn’t happen to anybody,’ ” said Pamela Prudhomme, 68. “But when it hits home, it’s a totally different outlook. I was devastated. I don’t remember anything affecting me the way that did.”
Asia’s grandfather David attended that game. Like his granddaughter, he was unaware of the taunt until he saw the video.
“In this day and time, it shouldn’t be going on,” David said. “It was wrong, and I’ve thought about it and thought about it, and I’ve thought about how wrong it was.”
Although she waited two days after the incident happened, Asia did not think twice about posting the video to Twitter. It was a measured response to a terrible situation.
“I felt like people deserved to know what happened,” Asia said. “There needed to be some type of evidence, because anybody can just go around and claim what they did to them without evidence.”
With support from her grandmother, Asia posted the video on Twitter.
“Tell your truth,” Pamela said she told Asia. “If that affects you in some way, let people know that.”
Her teammates and family describe the reaction as “mature.”
“Asia is one like, she can get in a bad mood, she can get a temper and get an attitude,” teammate Ivy Cox said. “That’s how she is, and that’s the person we love. I was really proud of the way she handled it. She showed in a respectful and mature manner what was going on and how she felt about it.”
Another teammate, Emery Espinoza, added: “She let people see it and let people express how they felt.”
Two years ago, Asia’s response may have been different.
“The old Asia would have handled it a whole lot differently,” Villarreal said.
Asia said: “Any other kid may have gone on Twitter and started cussing and all types of stuff. But I’m not that type of person.”
That is part of Asia’s maturity process. The incident at Marble Falls tested that maturity, Villarreal said.
“This was a gross moment for her,” Villarreal said. “She could have done this a different way, but she didn’t. She chose to do it in a respectful way and a grownup way to advocate for herself on what she knows is right.”
David said his granddaughter’s response was perfect.
“I’m not a person for all that publicity, but I commend her for the way she acted,” David said. “It affected her, but not in a negative way where she would want to go and fight and cuss and all that.”
Villarreal is happy to see how her players have supported Asia.
“I was angry, and I’m not one to get super-angry,” Cox said. “But it really made me mad because of the fact that we’re in this time, and we’re still doing things like this, and it was happening to one of the most loved people in my life.”
The incident did not derail the Hornets’ season. East Central ended the regular season 24-12 and finished third in District 27-6A at 5-5 to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. That was former Baylor standout and current Indiana Fever forward NaLyssa Smith’s senior year.
The Hornets faced Johnson in a Class 6A first-round playoff game Tuesday.
The Hornets won three games in 2020-21 — Asia’s sophomore season — and were 2-26 in district play the previous two seasons.
Asia’s basketball future is uncertain after high school. Several colleges are inquiring about her.
Asia’s life will go on with or without basketball. But these days, she approaches everything with a more cautious optimism.
“Before, I looked at the world — everybody was the same,” Asia said. “We’re all loving. We all care about each other. But now I gotta watch out for those kinds of people who are not loving and caring and supportive.”