Board of Ed Forbids HSBB Star Destiny Adams Wearing Black Lives Matter Shirt

The Manchester (New Jersey) Board of Education denied a request from women's basketball player Destiny Adams to allow players to wear "Black Lives Matter" warmup shirts this season.

Adams, a senior who is committed to the University of North Carolina, said the board refused to even vote on her proposal.

"I was hurt because I took my time to write a speech and try to make them understand my view, because I know it's hard because they don't experience it," Adams told Daniel LoGiudice of the Asbury Park Press. "For them to not even discuss it with each other … it was hurtful. It didn't sit right with me."

Adams said she felt like the board didn't consider the proposal, which also included the option for players to wear an alternative shirt that read "equality" if they were not comfortable with "Black Lives Matter." The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association says there is no mandate on what shirts players can wear in pregame warmups, and those decisions are made by the individual schools.

School Board President Ken Pate, who is white, said the board is elected to "represent the whole school and our uniforms have to be uniform." 

The board said it was denying Adams' request because it requires warmups to say the school name. Deja Adams, Destiny's older sister, says Manchester previously allowed teams to wear a warm-up shirt that said "unfinished business." 

Sixty-six percent of the students who attend Manchester High are white, a significantly higher margin than the average New Jersey public school (44 percent). 

Adams said she considered transferring over her disappointment with the school board but ultimately decided to stay at Manchester because transferring would have required her to sit out 30 days of competition.