I used to tell people there’s no place in the country like
California. I still believe it, for the most part.
But sometimes you need to reevaluate what it is you’re seeing,
and what is actually lying beneath the surface.
Tuesday night there were allegations made at a Gilroy High boys’
basketball game that a player from Alvarez High School used the
most foul word one could call another person, aiming it as several
Gilroy players and one in particular.
It’s time for some real talk about how I’ve heard similar
stories of racism from other coaches and athletes during my time
here in Gilroy.
I used to tell people there’s no place in the country like California. I still believe it, for the most part.
But sometimes you need to reevaluate what it is you’re seeing, and what is actually lying beneath the surface.
Tuesday night there were allegations made at a Gilroy High boys’ basketball game that a player from Alvarez High School used the most foul word one could call another person, aiming it as several Gilroy players and one in particular. The word brings shame to our nation’s past and those who continue to use it in the present. According to those who heard the Alvarez player, the word didn’t end with an ‘a,’ and had nothing to do with hip-hop vernacular.
What got me thinking ‘enough is enough’ and made me write this column isn’t that my sensibilities are so fragile that I crumbled at the thought of how cruel a place this world is, or that teenagers are being corrupted to the point of no return. The truth is, this isn’t anything new. Despite what Tracy Morgan said a few days ago, tongue firmly planted in cheek, Barack Obama becoming President hasn’t created a post-racial America.
It’s time for some real talk about how I’ve heard similar stories of racism from other coaches and athletes during my time here in Gilroy. One of the worst stories of racial taunts happened right before I came into town back in the summer of 2007.
“It happened a lot two years ago,” GHS boys’ basketball coach Jeremy Dirks said after Tuesday’s game. “It happened a lot when we had those transfers.”
A starting five of all black players apparently wasn’t well received, and not just because people thought Gilroy was playing with a stacked deck. More often than not racial taunts came from idiots in the stands, Dirks said, but that’s not to say the court was clear of trash talk that would be better suited for a Klan meeting.
There isn’t a state more diverse than California, but racism is just as present here as it is in most places across the country. I’ve lived in the Midwest. I’ve lived in the South. Whether it’s being thrown in your face or simply being insinuated depends on the culprit.
“That’s the problem,” said Gilroy High girls soccer coach Jose Hernandez. “I’ve respected the South because at least you see it. It’s not hidden. In California, we strive to hide it like it’s not there.”
Hernandez and his players, many of whom are Hispanic, have experienced racial taunts first-hand over the past few seasons. Some of it has come from opposing players. Some of it has come from those same players’ parents in the stands. Sometimes it’s been both.
His goal has always been to get his team to rise above the talk.
“The main thing is just not to react,” he said. “It goes for everything. We have to learn to control our emotions.”
But what about the emotions of outrage from the rest of us on the sidelines?
There seems to be a let-sleeping-dogs-lie attitude about racism in California, and in our local high school sports scene. It’s preventing us from ever approaching the topic with more than a passing acknowledgment.
“Everybody thinks if we have one conversation it’s a done deal, but it’s an ongoing process,” Hernandez said.
I spoke with Tri-County Athletic League Commissioner Tim McCarthy on Wednesday, and he was as straightforward as one could be about having a zero tolerance policy in regards to racism.
“None of us, and I’m including the athletic directors (for all TCAL schools), will tolerate anything that smacks of racism,” he said.
“The kind of thing that took place at [Tuesday’s] game is getting our attention.”
The Gilroy player who was ejected from that game, losing his cool after being the subject of the alleged racial slur, was not suspended from last night’s game at Hollister, as TCAL rules normally dictate following an ejection. McCarthy took Gilroy’s appeal into consideration and made the correct call.
Unfortunately, there is no league rule, or Central Coast Section rule from what I could find, in regards to punishing racist behavior. It all falls under the umbrella of sportsmanship. I’m not saying the two are exclusive of one another like apples and oranges, but I am saying there is a clear difference when someone taunts you for being less of a player rather than less of a person.
“We have to get to a point where it’s not just talked about when it happens,” said Anchorpoint Christian Athletic Director and Coach K.C. Adams.
A Gilroy native of nearly three decades, Adams moved to Gilroy from Oakland when he was in high school. The culture shock was immediate.
“When I was playing in Gilroy there were very few black people here and I put up with a bunch of that [stuff],” he said. “Me, coming here from Oakland, [the n-word] was a huge no-no. And they were throwing around the n-word like it was the thing to do.”
Things seem to have gotten better, but they still aren’t to the point where we can turn the page. Athletes in Gilroy are still frequently targeted for the color of their skin.
“I don’t want to say it’s super prevalent, but we get it one or two games a year,” GHS football coach Rich Hammond said. “When I was at Santa Clara (High School), it was half of our games.”
You can put responsibility on referees to police the action, but some are just as likely to be deaf as they are blind. Some may just choose to ignore it because it’s uncomfortable.
Coaches can dress down their own players, as Hammond was forced to once as an assistant earlier in his coaching career.
“In that situation, I chewed him a new one, yanked him (out of the game), and then had one of his friends bring it up,” Hammond said.
“The way I dealt with it, I had one of our team leaders, who was a minority, bring it up after practice. Because he was his friend.”
Hammond brings up another good point, and one that may have crossed your mind if you saw my mugshot.
“I’m not a coach who is a minority, so I can’t relate in the same way,” he said, “but at the end of the day, it’s important that we address it in the proper channels and we focus on helping one another, trying to create something positive.”
I’m not a minority, and I can’t say I know exactly how it feels. I can’t claim to have ever been the target of overt racism. If it happened, I didn’t even realize. But I am trying to find a solution that works for everyone. We could just put it all back on parents, which is certainly fair, but that’s too easy.
It’s time for Gilroy High, the TCAL, and CCS to be out in front, setting an example that racist behavior won’t be tolerated.
“Every time it comes up (at league meetings), they say it’s just going to stir emotions so we drop it,” Hernandez said.
From what I’m told, the next TCAL meeting will be held in a little over a week. All spring sports coaches from every member school are expected to attend. Actually discussing the issue and drafting a code of conduct with the goal in mind being to eliminate racism would be exceptional use of this time. Setting up a strict punitive system that enforces this code of conduct would be an even better step. By the time coaches and athletic directors get together in August to talk about next school year, maybe the topic won’t make everyone so squeamish.
None of this will ultimately eliminate racism. There will always be people who choose to be ignorant. This doesn’t mean we have to tolerate it.
