Student spectators from Oak Ridge High School, in Northern California’s El Dorado Hills, made racial taunts and other appearance-related insults against Asian American basketball players from C.K McClatchy High School during a recent play-off game between the two schools’ girls’ teams.
The story gained attention when McClatchy parent Glen Kumamoto posted a short clip from the Feb. 25 play-off game on Facebook. In the post, Kumamoto said the Oak Ridge students would yell things like “soy sauce,” “little eyes” and “you’re ugly” at the McClatchy team, half of which is of Asian descent according to Kumamoto. In the video clip, an Oak Ridge High student appears to be taunting a McClatchy player up close after she slid past the baseline. The McClatchy player brushed off the student angrily in response.
Tensions were high throughout the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I playoff game, which took place in El Dorado Hills. The Oak Ridge Trojans and the McClatchy Lions, last year’s California Interscholastic Federation State Division I champions, engaged in a constant battle for the lead, often within just a few points of each other.
Kumamoto expressed his desire to inform news outlets of the situation in his Facebook post, which he posted March 8. In the days following, the story was featured on several local Sacramento news outlets like The Sacramento Bee, CBS Sacramento, Fox 40 News, ABC 10 and KCRA 3. It even appeared on national news sites like NBC News and USA Today High School Sports.
“We have played in gyms all across Sacramento and the Bay Area,” Kumamoto told The Sacramento Bee. “We have never, ever been subjected to anything like that. We have never been more disrespected than we were in that gym.”
Oak Ridge High’s Aaron Palm, who was recently named interim principal by the El Dorado Union trustees, issued an e-mail to Oak Ridge community members stating the that the school does not support intolerance or racism on campus, according to a story by The Sacramento Bee. It also outlined what is to be done in response to the game.
According to Palm, the student who approached the McClatchy player shown in Kumamoto’s video was ejected from the game immediately and disciplined the next day. In the video, a gym staff member is seen approaching that student right after he taunted her.
According to a story by KCRA 3, the El Dorado Union High School District said in a statement made on March 10 that it is aware of the “inappropriate behavior and derogatory comments” made by the Oak Ridge High students.
“We are disappointed and saddened by this situation and are working to address the inappropriate behavior,” the statement read. “It is our expectation that respect be given to all during our athletic events and apologize that this was not the case on this particular evening.”
As of March 15, Kumamoto’s video has been viewed more than 57,427 times and shared almost 570 times.
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