*I was going to blog about Obama's 3.8 trillion dollar budget tonight, and about the republicans chirping about our children's future. (Like they really care.) But then I got an e-mail from a regular reader who wanted to know what I thought about a little problem that they are having up at one of our suburban high schools. (His alma mater no less)
Oh boy, how do I present this one? Alright folks, it's like this: It seems that some of the black parents of the high school basketball team are pissed because their kids aren't getting enough playing time. As a result, they are threatening a lawsuit.
I don't know; my racism meter isn't going up with this one. Why would a coach jeopardise his chances of winning by not playing his best players? So he thinks the best players happen to be white. Hello black people! You aren't the only ones who can play basketball. Have you ever heard of a fellow named Larry Bird? I am sorry, I smell an overly protective parent with this one. Of course I don't live in the area, so I am not familiar with the every day racial dynamic up there. But man this seems like a stretch.
Story by Mike Cabrey and Christiaan DeFranco
"FRANCONIA — A group of North Penn parents, angry over their kids' lack of playing time on the boys basketball team, will seek action from the school board as early as Monday and will file an anti-discrimination lawsuit if the board doesn't meet its demands.The group, led by Eric Stephens, wants North Penn coach Ron Hassler to both start and give significant minutes to five black players — Sheldon Stephens, Blair Alston, Thomas Scott, Dexter Shy and Janeus Somers — for every game the rest of the season.Otherwise, the group will name Hassler, the North Penn School District, principal Burton Hynes, athletic director Don Ryan and possibly others in a lawsuit alleging racism."Why not name everybody? ... They're all complicit," Eric Stephens said Friday night after North Penn's 53-36 loss at Souderton. "The black players have not been given anything approaching a fair opportunity to play this season.
All we want is fairness."Somers' family is not on board with the other parents and would not be involved in a suit."I've been coaching 26 years and, believe me, I put the best players out on the floor," Hassler said. "It has nothing to do with race."I love every player on this team, they're all great kids," Hassler said. "There isn't one kid I wouldn't take home to spend a weekend with my family. ... I feel really bad because there are kids being put in a situation they shouldn't have to handle and make decisions about."Hassler, whose brother Robert is the district superintendant until he retires Feb. 15, added that on North Penn's JV squad, for which he also determines who starts and who doesn't, six black players get the majority of the on-court minutes over four white players.
On Thursday, the Stephens-led group already made its demands for the varsity squad known in a meeting that involved principal Hynes, Ryan and the players in question. They had a similar meeting with assistant superintendent Curtis Deitrich. If those playing-time demands weren't met in the Souderton game Friday, four of the players (all except Somers) were planning to walk off the court in protest.Stephens even contacted NBC 10 News, which sent a reporter and film crew to the game. But the plan was scrapped after Hassler caught wind of it and told his players that anyone who walked off would be dismissed from the team." [More here]
Hmmm, not exactly the Greensboro Four are they. I don't know, if I were the parents of these kids I would be telling them to keep hitting their books and not the backboards. I am guessing that they will have a much better chance at an academic scholarship than an athletic one. But that's just me.
Sometimes my man racism likes to f%*k with me. He dresses someone else up to look like him and sits back in the cut to see what I will do. He wants to see if I will take the bait and chase his look-alike. Sorry "R", I have been chasing you long enough to know when it's really you. I am not going to chase your decoy. I am getting too old for that. I have to pick my chases wisely.
Thanks for the story Walter.
*Pic from the North Penn Reporter.
