A high school basketball team in southern California has been stripped of a championship title after tortillas were thrown at their predominately Latino opponents during a game.
The school district apologized for the action critics called racist.
But the students’ parents say otherwise.
On July 19, during a championship basketball game, tortillas were thrown at Orange Glen High’s basketball team which is largely Latino.
After the perceived racist act, Coronado Unified School District released a formal apology leaving their parents angry.
“What? Racism? Me? My tribe? Classism? Colorism? Miss Valdez you double down on that. You are to be truth seekers and advocates for our children in the community, you failed miserably!” said one parent at a school board meeting.
“This shows a lack of sound judgment and a imprudent willingness to scapegoat our families and our students,” said Mr. Frank Wu, President of the California Rights Foundation.
Many enraged by the language written in the apology, asking for it to be changed– which states the acts are egregious, demeaning, disrespectful and were conducted by perpetrators.
“If it was your child would you want them to live with that incorrect and tarnished reputation,” said another speaker at the board meeting.
Three hours of 46 public comments– the majority of them believing the board by drafting the apology they did, attacked their own basketball team, accusing a community of being racist and discriminatory.
“This seems like a politically diverse group of people who have all come to the same conclusion, there was no racist intent. Why are you so insistent on calling our kids racist, classist, colorist, and perpetrators.”
Since the game, Coronado alum Luke Serna told ABC10 News on June 23 that he was the one who brought tortillas to the game, yet denied any racist component to the act.
Coronado’s head coach was fired by CIF because of the incident and the Coronado team is on probation until 2024 with their championship title stripped.
