Demonstrations of the Ugly and the Beautiful in Sports

 

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO — In sports, which can serve as a microcosm of our society, we saw over the past few days the ugly and the beautiful.

The ugly came following a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) regional championship basketball game between Coronado High School of the City of Coronado and Orange Glen High School of the City of Escondido.  At the end of the hard-fought game, which Coronado won 60-57, some of its players “celebrated” by tossing packages of tortillas at the Orange Glen team, whose players are predominantly Mexican-American.  Coronado High School, in contrast, is predominantly White.

The school boards governing both teams were quick to denounce the incident as racist, and testimony was taken Tuesday night from residents about just what punishments would be appropriate for the offending players, the team, the coach, and the parent who purchased the tortilla packages in the first place.

As one Orange Glen student told a television news reporter, it seemed as if a symbol of Mexican-American heritage (tortillas) has been weaponized against them.

Among the remedies suggested were firing Coronado Coach J. D. Lapeeri, suspending or expelling the offending players, stripping Coronado High School of its championship title and seeking hate crime prosecution of the parent who brought the tortillas.  Others suggested that the incident be treated as a “teachable moment,” which should be held up to students and the community  as an example of how hate and micro-aggressions are disruptive to society, and certainly against the code of good sportsmanship.

Eventually, the Coronado School Board decided to fire Coach Lapeeri, and disccussed, but took no action, about disciplining student members of the team.   Meanwhile, Escondido School Board Members decided to schedule a special meeting to discuss racism.

Among the organizations that most vocally protested the tortilla-throwing incident was the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), by its presence demonstrating the maxim that when one minority group is attacked, all minority groups should sense themselves in danger — and that we should stand together against such outrages.  If any Jewish groups participated in the protests, I didn’t see them represented in the television news coverage, nor did we receive at San Diego Jewish World any press releases sympathizing with the students of Orange Glen High School and the Mexican-American community generally.

As a community that has been attacked over and over again, even lethally as it was during the shooting at Chabad of Poway, we Jews know how appreciated kind words from other communities are when we are under attack.  Their words of support and solidarity let us know that we are not alone.  So, it’s important that as a community, we speak up when other communities are also subjected to blatant prejudice and discrimination.  I’m sorry that we Jews did not do so more forcefully. But there’s still time to voice our solidarity.  To the extent that this publication can speak for our community, I can say, “we were sorry to learn about the incident; we feel your pain; it was undeserved, and the actions of  the players of Coronado High School were indefensible.”

Now, let me move to the “beautiful” in sports.  Carl Nassib, a defensive lineman for the Las Vegas Raiders, announced that he is gay, becoming the first active player  in the National Football League (NFL) to “come out” to his teammates, the the fans, and to the world in general.  At the same time, he announced a $100,000 donation to the Trevor Project, which dedicates itself to suicide prevention among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth.

While a private person, who would have preferred that his sexual orientation was a non-issue, Nassib told reporters that he felt it important to be  a role model for gay youths, who until his announcement, saw no one like them in the ranks of the NFL.  Nassib said he hadn’t made the announcement to gain attention to himself, but rather because he felt “representation is important.”

The reaction from the NFL came quickly.  It congratulated Nasib on his courage and offered its support.  Individual players were also quick to announce their support for Nassib, among them, I’m glad to say, one of football’s  premier Jewish fplayers: Julian Edelman, formerly of the New England Patriots.  “Awesome moment,” he commented. “Spreading the love to the @TrevorProject very classy move.”

So, in high school sports, we saw the ugly, and among professional athletes, who are far more mature, we saw the beautiful.

As I said, sports is a microcosm.  There are forces in our country who would support the Coronado High School students and denounce Nassib.   At the same time, there are those who, as we have,  offer support for Nassib and commiserate with the students and community at Orange Glen High School.

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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com