Adults let kids down in racist taunts at Topeka basketball game

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OPINION AND COMMENT

Editorials and other opinion content offer viewpoints on issues important to our community and are independent of the work of our newsroom reporters.

Adults have failed to step in and teach students that bigotry and lewdness have no place on the basketball court, or anywhere else. Facebook/Jo’Mhara Benning

Should fans be banned from basketball games at Valley Center High School in Kansas after allegations of racist chanting directed at black Topeka High basketball players? That’s up to the school administrators to decide. But video footage showing a black doll held in mockery by a fan sitting in the student section of Valley Center is disheartening. Who thought it was a good idea to taunt visiting African-American basketball players with such an accessory?

We understand: children will be children. But where were the adults? From our perspective, every adult inside the Valley Centers gymnasium this past weekend failed to protect Topeka High students from emotional and mental abuse. If ever there was a time to stand up and put a stop to such nonsense, it was while these taunts were happening.

Valley Center school administrators, coaches, teachers, on-site security and game officials all take responsibility for allowing Valley Center students to use inappropriate language and racist symbols to harass their opponents. .

Since the incident, apologies and statements have been released, petitions have been started, investigations have been launched, and the communities of Topeka and Valley Center are having difficult conversations about race or at least that is our hope. On Wednesday, due to unspecified online threats, the Valley Center Unified School District canceled classes and closed buildings, according to district officials.

Students who made inappropriate comments were removed from the game, Valley Center administrators said. But the adults present should be embarrassed to allow children on school grounds to violate the rules of sportsmanship. Yelling the obscene and sexist Hes a (vulgar word for vagina)! to an opposing basketball player should not be allowed at any level of basketball, let alone inside a high school gymnasium.

We learn from experience both good and bad. What have we taught these students?

Valley Center officials have yet to determine on Tuesday whether any student used racist language, they wrote in a statement. But the opposing coach claims otherwise. Word n ​​was used and players and spectators visiting Topeka were threatened with lynching, according to Topeka High School boys’ head coach Geo Lyons.

Valley Center High School employees failed to protect Topeka High from racial slurs, threats and disgusting taunts, Lyons wrote in a change.org petition asking spectators to be removed from future Valley Center games .

Under Kansas State High School Activities Association regulations, game officials have the discretion to remove unruly fans from high school sporting events. Have they done enough to resolve the situation with the gym supervisors? Coach Lyons says no.

Game officials didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary other than the free-throw chanting which is now all over social media, KSHSSA Deputy Executive Director Jeremy Holaday told us. When this happened, officials made sure school administrators were aware and fixed the issue. Game officials believe that the school administration resolved the issue appropriately and in a timely manner.

Valley Center and Topeka Public School officials are working together to determine if racist comments were made and by whom, according to Valley Center administrators. In its letter to the students’ families, Valley Center promised follow-up consequences for the students involved.

Topeka Schools Superintendent Tiffany Anderson condemned the unruly behavior of Topeka students in the letter, but appreciated an apology from Valley Center officials.

We hope their district will take appropriate action to remedy what happened with those involved, Anderson wrote.

This incident is a stark reminder that racism still exists in our country and can happen anywhere and anytime. And it is this fact that makes the argument against teaching the history of slavery and discrimination in this country so insidious. Lawmakers across the country, including Kansas, are blocking students from learning about the impact of racism and racist decision-making over time. Incidents like the allegedly heinous Valley Center incident do not happen in a vacuum. These are learned behaviors and must be confronted head-on.

We hope that students from both communities will use what happened inside the Valley Centers gymnasium as a catalyst for growth.

This story was originally published on December 7, 2022 at 1:35 p.m.

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