LONGVIEW — Kelso School District officials Monday rejected claims that its fans and players directed racist taunts at Hudson’s Bay players during a Jan. 7 boys basketball game — claims that led to a protest when Kelso visited Hudson’s Bay for a rematch in Vancouver on Friday night.
Kelso officials, after reviewing tape of the Jan. 7 game and interviewing students and coaches, said another claim that a Kelso player groped a Hudson’s Bay player during the Jan. 7 game remains “unsubstantiated.”
“Kelso School District has zero tolerance for racism and hate speech and takes allegations of this nature very seriously. After informally learning of the allegations, more than two weeks after they were alleged to have occurred, Kelso School District took immediate action and investigated these allegations by reviewing video footage and interviewing players, students and coaches,” according to a statement the district released Monday afternoon.
Roughly 100 spectators and all Hudson’s Bay players at Friday’s game wore T-shirts that said “We Will Not Be Silent,” and some fans carried signs protesting racism and sexual assault.
Hudson’s Bay senior Derek Barnes, who is black, said gorilla noises were directed at him by Kelso students while he was shooting free throws during that game. Bay senior Isaiah Gipson said a Kelso player purposely grabbed him in the genitals.
But the Kelso School District said that after reviewing game film and interviewing students, players and coaches, they determined the Kelso students were “barking,” a common method of distraction used by Kelso students in sporting events. Because the sound has now been misinterpreted as a racist taunt, students and teams have been asked to stop using it, the district’s release said.
The District said it is “taking action” to keep future games well supervised.
In a letter to high school parents Monday, Kelso High School principal Christine McDaniel called the allegations against the team “unfounded and inaccurate.”
The letter shared similar information to the press release and asked parents to reach out with questions.
Friday protest
After the Jan. 7 game that Hudson’s Bay players and parents decided to take a stand. Word of their experience reached Lexi Bongiorno with the nonprofit group Southwest Washington Communities United For Change.
That group facilitated a meeting with players and parents. Ultimately, it was the Eagles players who decided how Friday’s protest would take shape.
“We are an organization that moves very organically, very bottom to top,” Bongiorno said. “As a community organization, we want to be there to support them in every way we can.”
This story will be updated.
