De La Salle is investigating allegations of racist comments that left the Sanger soccer community upset before and during a Northern California regional boys game between the schools last week in Concord.
Sanger High parents told the ABC station in Fresno that they were speechless by remarks coming from the bleachers where fans of both teams sat.
“Some of them were calling our kids ‘Edgar’ and ‘Juan’, and (asking) ‘Do you need a burrito?’” Sanger parent Chris Martin told the TV station.
Martin added that a conversation he had before the game with someone from De La Salle who worked the press box was uncomfortable.
“The sense I kept getting from him is that he kept referring to the color of the tan, like, ‘Oh it must be very hot out there, everyone I am seeing has a tan,’” Martin said.
Other Sanger fans posted on social media alleging racist comments from De La Salle fans.
De La Salle president David Holquin said in a statement Monday morning: “After nearly two dozen interviews thus far, we are unable to corroborate these allegations but will continue to investigate this matter.”
Holquin’s statement also said, “The alleged comments are entirely inappropriate and do not keep with our school standards, expectations, and our mission as a Lasallian Catholic school. We take these allegations seriously. Once aware, we immediately launched an investigation into the matter.”
De La Salle beat Sanger 4-3 on Tuesday, then lost at Watsonville on penalty kicks in the semifinals Thursday.
Martin and another fan quoted by ABC said that after the game, a man from the De La Salle contingent shouted toward a Sanger parent: “This is America, you’re going to need to learn English.”
CIF referred questions about the incident to the schools involved.
Last October, De La Salle disciplined two students who were photographed re-enacting the May 2020 murder of George Floyd.
The incident last week was one of two alleging racist behavior at regional matches in Northern California that rattled Fresno-area schools.
In the NorCal Division I girls final Saturday night in the Sacramento area, Buchanan players were subject to what their coach called “blatantly racist” heckling when the match against Oak Ridge of El Dorado Hills went to penalty kicks.
According to the Sacramento Bee, when a Hispanic player stepped up to shoot for Buchanan, someone in the stands could be heard barking loudly like a dog. When it was a Black player’s turn to shoot, someone in the stands could be heard making gorilla noises.
The Bee reported that it reviewed a video of the heckling.
Oak Ridge is investigating the incident, as is CIF.
“When a quiet stadium is suddenly filled with gorilla noises made toward an African-American student, I don’t know that you get any more blatantly racist,” Buchanan coach Jasara Gillette told the Bee. “It changed the atmosphere of everything. My players after that moment were visibly emotional. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
Last June, Coronado was stripped of its Southern California Division 4-A regional basketball championship after members of the team celebrated by throwing tortillas in the direction of Orange Glen’s bench. Orange Glen is predominantly Latino.
“The CIF State Executive Director reiterates that discriminatory and racially insensitive behaviors toward an opponent contravene the principles of education-based athletics,” the CIF said in a statement. “In this instance, there is no doubt the act of throwing tortillas at a predominantly Latino team is unacceptable and warrants sanctions.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com