High school sports bring out many big emotions, both on the court and in the stands.
Sometimes they bring out the ugly side of people, including racist comments and actions.
Lincoln High School in Southeast San Diego felt this issue less than two years ago.
“We’re trained to accept it, and that’s not okay,” Lincoln football coach David Dunn said. “There is no place for racism in sports or anything else.”
The school received the end of messaging T-shirts and social media posts by some students at Cathedral Catholic High School in 2021.
“If we have to prepare our children to potentially face racial comments – stomped on, booed, resisted, called out of their name during a competition in some places in the city – that’s a another ball game,” Dunn said.
Around the same time in 2021, a tortilla-throwing incident targeting a predominantly Latino team from Escondido’s Orange Glen High School shook the local high school sports scene. This ultimately led to penalties against Coronado High School.
Assemblymember Akilah Weber, D-San Diego, is looking to change those types of scenarios with Assembly Bill 1327, sponsored by the California-Hawaii NAACP.
“This bill ensures that these incidents are reported and tracked, and that the public and legislature are notified whenever they occur,” he said.
The bill would require the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to work with community organizations and create a standardized incident form to track racial discrimination or harassment that occurs at high school sports or events.
The CIF also has to post the results every year on its website.
Lincoln basketball coach Jeff Harper-Harris said these types of incidents happen all the time, both on and off the court.
“I have four basketball players in the car. I was pulled over because the officer said it looked like we were casing the neighborhood — there were robberies,” he said, describing an incident before a game in La Jolla. “Now the incident with our kids in the car has been turned into a basketball game.”
He said the racism he and his players endured affected their playing and caused psychological trauma.
“My last game is for my kids to be able to play at Lincoln High School and play in La Jolla, go north on the 805, play a basketball game that has nothing to do with race,” Harper-Harris said. “You win, you lose, you walk out of there – you still shake hands.”
The bill would also require the CIF to report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature and the governor on evaluation and accountability activities conducted every three years.
AB 1327 is scheduled for a hearing in the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday, April 26. It will take effect on January 1, 2024, if it passes the legislative process and is signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.