SAN DIEGO — Officials from Lincoln High School in San Diego and San Clemente High School have launched investigations after hearing reports that students attending a football game between the two schools in Orange County were subject to racial taunts and slurs.
Multiple parents and students from Lincoln High School say they were targeted with numerous racial slurs during Friday night's away football game at San Clemente High.
The teams can been seen, side-by-side, in video posted by The San Clemente Times on Twitter with the teams congratulating each other after Friday night’s game.
According to a letter sent to the Capistrano Unified School District by the local NAACP, both school-aged and adult fans allegedly heckled and harassed the Lincoln players and cheer squad using the n-word throughout the stadium during the game.
Clovis Honore, the president of the San Diego branch of the NAACP, posted a letter on the NAACP website titled "Racial harassment has no place in high school athletics'' that was sent to Orange County school officials.
A coalition of student and community groups, including Generation Justice San Diego, a youth-led activism and organizing organization that supports all youth pursuing racial and social justice, held a press conference Monday morning at San Clemente High School. They say security was asked to intervene but did nothing to stop the harassment. The group also called on district officials to apologize and claimed Orange County sheriff's deputies ignored pleas for help. Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes issued a statement denying the allegation.
"It is blatantly untrue," said Carrie Braun, a spokeswoman for the sheriff. "The only thing told to our deputies is there were some kids from San Clemente who made their way over to the visitor's side, who were being rude and obnoxious so deputies escorted them back over to the home side."
The hecklers were middle school students, not from the high school, Braun said.
Lincoln High Principal Stephanie Brown sent a letter to parents informing them that several students attending the game Friday night were "met with racial slurs by fans of the other team." The cheerleading squad left early reportedly because of the taunts.
In the letter posted on Facebook, Principal Brown said "our administration team is continuing to investigate the incident and we are taking this very seriously. Early information also seems to show our students responded to the racist taunts with the maturity and restraint we would expect."
She also stated that a vice principal planned to interview all students involved to document the incident.
Lincoln's head coach, David Dunn, told the Union-Tribune that players on the field didn't hear any of the comments but said they heard about it at halftime from the drill team and cheerleaders.
"There were taunts from the stands. The girls were told 'they should be on leashes,"' Dunn told the newspaper. "I was upset because it affected the young ladies. These are 14-, 15-year-old girls. There is no place for it. There was a lack of common decency and respect."
There weren't any racial comments made by San Clemente players or coaches, Dunn told the newspaper.
According to state education data, Lincoln High's enrollment in 2018- 19 was 19% African American, 70% Hispanic and 3% white. San Clemente High was 62.6% white.
A spokesman for the Capistrano Unified School District told the Union- Tribune that school officials planned to review footage shot by at least four cameras inside the stadium and interview people who attended the game.
Officials at both schools asked anyone with specific details, relevant cell phone videos or photographs to share that information with the school as officials try to identify individuals who were involved.
San Clemente School Principal Chris Carter issued a statement, saying:
"Dear Lincoln High School Community, We are deeply concerned by the allegation that racist and offensive comments were directed towards your students and fans at the football game this past Friday. As the Principal of San Clemente High School, I work with my faculty, staff, students, families, and community to maintain the highest standards of respect for all individuals. We do not condone racist speech or actions at our school, and we unreservedly condemn hateful rhetoric that targets any person or group. We are conducting a thorough investigation on these accusations with our Orange County Sheriff’s Department, administration, staff, and others who were present supervising the game. We take these claims very seriously. We ask the communities of San Clemente and Lincoln High School to please share any evidence that would assist us with the investigation. Please send any evidence or statements directly to Assistant Principal, Cameron Lovett, at cnlovett@capousd.org. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, we will use this opportunity to take specific action with our school community to ensure that our words and actions meet our high standards and that every single person on our campus as a student, family member or guest feels safe and welcome. We look forward to working with your school community to ensure a positive resolution."