Racism in sports strikes again, this time at a high school basketball game in Washington State.
Last month, Zillah High School traveled to Connell High School for their game. During the contest, students in the bleachers were heard yelling “monkey” at two Black players on the Zillah team.
The response was swift.
Connell was fined $1,000 and placed on one-year probation by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA). The area’s sports governing body also mandated that the school’s administrators and coaches must complete a diversity class before being allowed to participate in future playoff games at Connell.
“Any show of racism is inexcusable and will not be tolerated in our district,” said North Franklin School District Superintendent Jim Jacobs in a statement. “We take these allegations seriously and, while we are unable to share disciplinary details due to privacy laws, we will assure appropriate consequences are administered.”
This all started during their May 22nd game after multiple “monkey” barbs came from the stands. Connell’s school district (North Franklin) called for a third-party investigation over the incident in order to punish the students involved. That investigation is currently ongoing.
The initial punishments were much harsher. Student-athletes in the student section were banned from games as the vile chants originated from that section; Connell students were prohibited from attending home or away game for the remainder of the current season; all Connell students would be educated on proper race and sportsmanship etiquette, and the aforementioned third-party investigation would commence.
In addition, the Connell girl’s and boy’s basketball teams would end their seasons on June 5th and all school fans would be barred from games through June 12th.
After originally agreeing to the punishment, Connell appealed and the sanctions were overturned. The governing bodies ruled that a full ban wasn’t warranted because it was unfair to those not involved in the incident. That’s when the fine and probation were handed down. The WIAA also declared that Connell could not host any additional games this year.
Stephen Pyeatt, Connell’s athletic director, apologized to Zillah and its players.
“You did not deserve this in any way, and no one should ever have to be subjected to what happened. I’m sorry.”
Once again, racism rears its ugly head and harms everyone in its reach.
