Homewood-Flossmoor High School board members say a coach and students on Lincoln-Way East High School’s girls cross country team directed racist taunts toward the H-F team during a race on Saturday, the day after similar actions from fans at a football game.
Student athletes from H-F said they witnessed a Lincoln-Way East coach make comments about running “past those monkeys” to the Lincoln-Way team before the start of the race, according to Tuesday’s news release from H-F District 233. Some team members then began cheering and “making noises that were racist” along with “monkey gestures,” the news release states.
Lincoln-Way District 210 defended the team, saying coaches during the Lyons Township High School cross country meet “merely recounted a well-known story about an area of the Lyons Township course referred to as ‘the jungle,’” according to an emailed statement from Jen Vujosevic, community relations director for the district. Superintendent Scott Tingley would not be interviewed Tuesday.
Vujosevic said H-F sent out its news release before Lincoln-Way administrators were able to complete an investigation of the claims, and said they interviewed cross country coaching staff and female student athletes Tuesday morning.
The district continued to condemn the “egregious and intolerable behavior” displayed by five students who were removed from Friday’s football game against H-F but said the girls cross country coaching staff and team members were unaware of those events before their race.
“After concluding its investigation into the cross-country meet allegations, the Lincoln-Way administration is confident that neither its staff nor student athletes intended to harass, intimidate or offend any of their competitors or those competitors’ families,” the district said.
Lincoln-Way District 210 previously said it cannot name or disclose the disciplinary action taken against students at the football game, but said they were not football players. Vujosevic said Tuesday the district “does not, in any way, condone the actions of those students.”
“We also apologize to all those involved. We are committed to ensuring that every student feels safe and included at school, and we will continue to prioritize racial understanding, inclusion, and awareness amongst the entire Lincoln-Way community,” Vujosevic said in her statement.
The five student fans “made a very bad choice to engage in disrespectful and racist harassment towards H-F students seated in the bleachers,” H-F District 233 Superintendent Jennifer Norrell and school Principal Clinton Alexander said in a joint statement posted on the school’s website after the football game. “We want to commend our staff who acted swiftly and safely removed those individuals from our property and helped our students remain in the bleachers and safe.”
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But the news release from H-F said the school planned to pursue legal action following Saturday’s cross country invitationals. After following up with Lincoln-Way East on what had been done in response to the racist comments, H-F officials said they were told the girls cross country coach was sharing with the students “that they call that event the ‘Jungle’ and the HF team must have misunderstood what was said.”
The news release included written statements from H-F girls cross country team members who said they heard the Lincoln-Way East coach calling their team monkeys in a team huddle before the race began.
“These behaviors were not simply ‘inappropriate’ — they were racist and ugly and ignorant,” the H-F news release said. “And the fact that we have now learned of two such incidents in one weekend deserves all our attention and a firm response.”
A petition seeking to expel the Lincoln-Way East students who used racist taunts during Friday’s football game had about 430 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
Some Lincoln-Way East students plan a walkout against racism at 11:50 a.m. Wednesday in response to the actions of the students at Friday’s football game, according to emails and social media posts from some parents. The students plan to gather at the fieldhouse and walk onto the football field.
Lincoln-Way East Principal Toriano Griggs in an email to high school families Tuesday the district was aware of a potential student walkout.
“While we will not prevent students from participating in a walkout, we will manage any student walkout or protest in accordance with procedures outlined in the student handbook and with appropriate safety precautions in place,” Griggs said in the email. “Individuals who are not Lincoln-Way East students or authorized visitors will not be permitted on campus. Our priority will continue to be maintaining a safe and orderly environment for all students and staff.”
After hearing about the racist harassment of H-F community members at Friday’s football game, Tanysha Phillips said she immediately asked her son, a sophomore football player and student at Lincoln-Way East, if he had experienced anything similar at school.
“If you will do it in public, what goes on when cameras aren’t around?” Phillips said.
While she felt reassured that her son wasn’t personally targeted, Phillips said she grew more concerned after hearing about the second allegation from the girls cross country race. As her family lived within the Homewood-Flossmoor district five years ago, Phillips said she is backing the nearby community.
“My son could have been on the other side of this,” she said. “With us moving from that area to come over here — I’m in fully support of H-F, because right is right and wrong is wrong.”