Mom: Katy ISD failed to stop racist taunts

Lakeesha Adams expected an intense volleyball match between her daughter’s Paetow High Panthers and their rivals and home team, the Jordan High Warriors. Heckling was rampant in past matches between the Katy ISD teams, but a recent challenge brought out racist taunts, she said.

Adams on Sunday posted to Twitter that Paetow’s varsity players, who are primarily Black and Hispanic, were heckled and harassed by Jordan’s primarily white student section, who she said imitated monkey sounds.

Adams captured video of the incident Friday and included it in her tweet, which since has been retweeted almost 1,000 times as of Wednesday evening.

Katy ISD officials are investigating the incident, they said in a letter sent to parents and staff that they shared Wednesday with the Chronicle. District and school officials have declined to comment.

“An investigation has identified some students engaged in behaviors that are not aligned with the district’s and the UIL’s expectations for sportsmanship conduct during an athletic event,” the letter states. “Any student’s behavior deemed in violation of the discipline management plan and student code of conduct will face disciplinary consequences.”

With Paetow trailing early in the game, the heckling started off mild, Adams said. But as the Panthers started to come back, the Warriors’ student section began yelling players’ numbers to try to distract them.

Adams said she and other parents, as well as some coaches, complained to Jordan’s security and administration before it could escalate, but nothing happened.

“We knew something was going to get worse,” she said.

Then they began to hear what they said were monkey noises.

“I’m like, wait a minute, that can’t be what I’m hearing. Let’s record,” she said. “By then, you can see our girls’ faces. They were looking like, ‘Are you serious right now?’ But they pushed through.”

When the game ended in a

Warriors victory, fans rushed the court before the Panthers could get escorted out, Adams said.

“We were trying to get our girls out at this point,” she said. “We’ve never left the game so abruptly. Normally they can take their equipment off, (but) not this time.”

She has since made formal complaints with Jordan’s athletic director, but has not yet heard back. The only person who has contacted her is Paetow High School Principal Mindy Dickerson, Adams said, who told her a student had been identified.

A disturbing trend

Adams said she doesn’t think Katy ISD is doing enough.

“The lack of direct communication to our girls from Katy ISD to check on their mental state after having to endure such heinous actions is disrespectful and concerning,” she wrote on Twitter, calling on district officials to read about other racially charged incidents that have made national headlines.

Last month, a Brigham Young University women’s volleyball fan yelled racial slurs at a Black player for Duke while she was serving, prompting an ongoing investigation.

Two days after the game, the player, Rachel Richardson, said in a statement on Twitter that she and her African American teammates were “targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match.”

Since the BYU controversy, similar incidents have occurred at high school varsity volleyball games in Texas.

On Friday night, a parent at Hays High School near San Antonio posted to Facebook that students from Canyon High School yelled racial slurs at her daughters during a volleyball game, according to KSAT 12.

Hays High School’s volleyball team issued its own statement Tuesday, saying “not enough was done to remedy the situation” after its coaching staff brought it to Canyon’s attention.

How to address it

Richard Baker, Rice University’s executive director for institutional equity and Title IX coordinator, questioned if schools and referees in the recent incidents followed protocol.

“Any athlete, whether in the field or a classroom, shouldn’t be subjected to discrimination or harassment and if they are, it should be addressed as (institutional) policies are allowed.”

Baker suggested parents first familiarize themselves with the protocols for their child’s school, so that they know how to report similar incidents.

Baker also said that school districts and institutions may not be able to draw conclusions or explicitly deem incidents racist during investigations.

However, Baker believes they can still acknowledge their values and the harm done.

“Schools should adopt some sort of message at these games because it can be expected that some students can behave unruly,” he added. “So that behavior should be addressed at the game and throughout. But there should also be a reminder that harassment in any form is antithetical to who they are. And if there is an event that threatens who we are, we are going to take action because that’s who we are.”