The report that a Penn High School student used racist language during a student broadcast of a basketball game was a disturbing but, unfortunately, not exactly a shocking headline these days.
And for certain Penn-Harris-Madison alumni, it may feel all too familiar.
In this most recent incident, according to a video posted on Facebook and viewed by The Tribune, during the broadcast of the boys sectional basketball game against Riley High School, a student announcer could seemingly be heard making monkey sounds and using a racial slur three times while a Black player from Riley was shooting a free throw.
In a statement sent to Penn parents and media on March 7, Penn Principal Rachel Fry said the “language and behavior do not reflect the expectations we have for our students or the values of Penn High School and the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation.”
So what are those expectations? Six years ago, then-Penn-Harris-Madison superintendent Jerry Thacker talked about teaching and modeling for students “what it means to treat others as we would want to be treated. This means we cannot only not tolerate acts of bigotry and complicity, but we must be actively anti-racist.”
Thacker’s response, issued in a press release, came after he met privately with students, alumni and Penn High School administrators and listened to “hurtful incidents of racism.” The alumni reported that students of color have been subjected to racist rhetoric without any action from administrators, that Black students are disciplined more severely and at higher rates than their peers, and that P-H-M lacks diversity in classroom literature and course offerings. Thacker vowed to take action, stating “we must and will do better.”
Is the district following up on that commitment to “do better?” We can’t help but think of a 2021 Tribune report that administrators said they will review the lessons on diversity in response to objections from some parents. According to the story, the district was re-evaluating the lessons on implicit bias and micro-aggressions, and students would have the option to opt out.
Some parents expressed concern that elements of critical race theory, which is not taught at the K-12 level, were being introduced to students through the district’s social emotional learning, or SEL, curriculum. Some said their children were too young to be taught a curriculum about race. Others shared a fear their children were being “reduced down only to their physical characteristics” and stereotyped for them.
But what of the fears of parents of the basketball players targeted with an old and ugly racist trope? And how must Black P-H-M students and their parents be feeling? The basketball game incident is likely just a harder to ignore example of the racism Black students at P-H-M often face that goes unnoticed or unaddressed.
Unfortunately, they can’t opt out of the pain and anger that comes when incidents like this occur. Black parents can’t opt out of the difficult discussions that must be had in an effort to prepare and protect their children. In fact, it is not uncommon for some Black parents to begin having “The Talk” about race with their children as early as age 5 or younger.
They can’t opt out of facing the reality of racism.
No one should have that luxury.
Editorials represent the opinion of the Tribune Editorial Board. Its members are Audience Engagement Editor Alesia I. Redding, Enterprise Editor Cory Havens and Executive Editor Ismail Turay Jr.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Racism during Penn basketball broadcast a reminder of old problems
Reporting by The Editorial Board, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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