racial taunting at a hs baskeTball game?

I’m still very bothered and troubled with what took place at a HS varsity basketball game at Pearl River HS in Rockland County (NY) a few weeks ago.

On at least three different occasions when a black player from Nyack HS came to the free throw line, there were very audible monkey and ape noises coming from the crowd. The video and audio of the incident that was posted on Twitter was very clear.

In effect, this was racial taunting at its worst. It was simply inexcusable. And no one did anything to stop it.

And according to numerous media accounts, this was not the first time this kind of taunting had occurred at Pearl River. Apparently, similar monkey noises were made when the Pearl River boys basketball played Suffern HS at end of January.

All of this is so, so wrong in so many ways….I don’t even know where to begin. But let me try:

First off, the basics of sportsmanship strongly suggest that when an opposing player goes to shoot  a free throw, the people in the crowd – including students and adults – should remain quiet, and not in any way attempt to distract the player with loud noises.

But I’m not naïve. I can see that this simple act of sportsmanship has gone by the boards. Distracting noises are done at pretty much every college and HS games these days. That doesn’t make it right….but it does happen.

But when the next twist on these unsportsmanlike noises take on a racist tone, that’s where the line needs to be drawn. And drawn right away.

But that didn’t happen at Pearl River HS.

As I mentioned on my WFAN radio show last week, this was a totally lost opportunity to teach HS kids about the hurtful legacy of racism…but instead….not one adult rose to the occasion.

That includes not just the athletic administration from Pearl River who were supposed to monitor and supervise the game….but in addition, none of the coaches from either team did or say anything. Nor did the refs working the game. Nor any of the parents at the game said anything to stop it.

Even worse. The taunting just kept going….it happened three different times in the game as black players from Nyack HS went to the foul line -- as though making money and ape sounds was perfectly acceptable behavior.

As I said on last Sunday’s show, I hold the adults in the gym to be just as accountable as the teenage students who did this.

Just to be clear - I’m not in any way excusing the teenagers who made these sounds….but teenagers are still  kids, and like all teenagers, they often do and say stupid things. But the grown-ups should know better.

And yet, consider this: when the Pearl Board school board called for an open community meeting this past week, several parents spoke up at the meeting and denied this had been racist, that it was no big deal, and that the entire incident was being overhyped and blown out of proportion.

Now, everybody in this country is entitled to their opinion. But in this case, it’s pretty hard to take a position that this was just overblown. That is, if the monkey sounds weren’t intended as racist, why weren’t they made when a white player from Nyack went to shoot a free throw?

I made some calls to Pearl River about this incident, and according to my sources, no one has been held accountable yet.  Pearl River officials are still trying to determine which people, including students, made the sounds. Apparently, no one has come forward with names.

As for the supervisory staff at the game, there too no one has been held accountable for allowing this to continue. That isn’t right.

As for the refs working the game, well, they do not, of course, work for the school.  They are assigned by the governing athletic body in NYS Section One. Section One officials chastised Pearl River, and took away Pearl River’s home court and home ice advantage for their teams in the basketball and ice hockey playoffs, but beyond that, that’s been pretty much it.

To me, it would have been so perfect if someone –anyone – had the courage and had stopped the game when this occurred, and had the offending individuals removed from the gym immediately. But that didn’t happen. And that teachable moment was lost. I urge you to listen to this powerful and passionate calls on the podcast here: The Sports Edge with Rick Wolff