Female football star responds to being compared to a gorilla online

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Ashton Brooks made history when she became the first girl to join Midland, Michigan’s Dow High School varsity football team. But instead of being celebrated for her historic achievement, Brooks has to deal with a flood of backlash and racism, especially in the wake of a picture that recently hit social media in which Brooks was compared to a gorilla.

On October 22, a former student from a rival high school posed with someone in a gorilla suit and posted the picture to social media with the caption, “Got a pic with dows kicker ;).”

— Star black female kicker mocked in racist post depicting her as gorilla — 

Initially, Brooks reacted on Twitter by retweeting the picture with the caption, “When u don’t even graduate high school so u gotta come back to talk sh** about people doing well in it :/”

But after the picture went viral and captured national attention, Brooks took to Facebook to further address it: “I think the post was just a representation of ignorance from one individual who was trying to bring me down, but that will not stop me from performing my best in the sport I’ve grown to love.”

She also took to Twitter, saying, “Just as a PSA to everyone: Please be careful of what you say/post/send because one picture and one comment can change your life completely.”