[Vision2020] Basketball Game Taunts

[Tom Hansen]

In my opinion, referring to a Hispanic basketball player as "Dirty 
Sanchez" is absolutely no different, and just as racially motivated, as 
referring to a black basketball player as "Buckwheat".

It is simply WRONG!

Mullen High School, in Denver, is initiating disciplinary actions.

What is the University of Idaho doing other than "lip service"?

Courtesy of the CBS affiliate in Denver:

http://cbs4denver.com/local/buckwheat.Taunts.mullen.2.936078.html
 
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Mullen Principal Addresses Basketball Game Taunts

Video:
http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/?id=53304@kcnc.dayport.com
 
DENVER ― A group of Mullen High School students who shouted a racial slur 
at an opposing high school basketball player will be attending a meeting 
on Tuesday to talk about what happened. 

At the Feb. 11 game in Denver between Mullen and Overland High School a 
group of Mullen football players and other students chanted "Buckwheat" 
from the stands when one of Overland's African-American players stepped to 
the foul line. 

Greg Gotchey, principal of the private Catholic school, was at the game 
and told CBS4 he tried to stop the chant when he first heard it near the 
start of the game. 

"I went over and asked them to stop," he said of his efforts in the first 
quarter. 

One student claimed they were just teasing a player about his big 
hairstyle and not his skin tone. 

The taunts returned in the fourth quarter, and Gotchey said he was very 
surprised. 

"I couldn't imagine our kids saying something like that, but they did," 
Gotchey said. 

An Overland parent who is an African American emailed other parents of the 
Aurora school to say the incident "shook me to the core." That person 
described the taunting as a "despicable act."

Gotchey threatened the students with suspension and said he expects those 
students to write a formal letter of apology. They will be meeting with 
Overland's athletic director on Tuesday.

"I am confident that they are sorry and they will apologize in a more 
formal tone than what has been done so far," Gotchey said.

On Friday Gotchey held an all-school assembly about the matter. Senior 
Gavin Fisher said Gotchey's words made an impression. 

"He went here. He knows what Mullen is all about and this just needs to be 
stopped now," Fisher said. 

Gotchey said he reminded the students of Mullen's core values and called 
for respect for all people. 

"We don't get to choose when that respect happens -- it happens 24 hours a 
day, seven days a week. And unfortunately for a handful of our kids it 
doesn't appear to be that way," he said.

Donna Marshall, one of the Overland parents, told the Denver Post she was 
proud of how the players behaved in light of what happened. Overland wound 
up winning the game. 

The Colorado High School Activities Association is looking into the 
incident. 

At Mullen on Sunday, several students told CBS4 they were sickened by the 
incident. 

"This definitely broke our school apart a little bit, from the inside and 
that hurts a little bit because this isn't what Mullen's about," senior 
Lindsey Walker said. 

CBS4 attempted on Sunday to talk to members of the Overland High School 
community for this report but didn't find anyone who wished to discuss the 
matter on camera prior to Tuesday's meeting.
 
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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho



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