THE WHOLE TEAM IS BLACK????????you just can't win in this day and age...
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/lo...lle_cry_foul_over_high_school_basketball_cuts
DANVILLE – Some black community members have accused the Danville High School boys basketball head coach of racial profiling for cutting at least eight black players from an all-black team.
Now they're planning to organize a protest in an attempt to get Coach Gary Tidwell, who is white, removed.
"We need to play hard ball to get some answers," said Frank McCullough, pastor of Mount Olive Christian Church.
But school officials insisted there has been no racial discrimination and said they stand by Tidwell.
"The coach chose the student athletes that he thought were the very best players and would help the team be successful this year," Principal Mark Neil said. "That was the basis of the choice.
"I feel for the ones who did not make the team," Neil said. "It's got to be tough on them and tough for their parents. ... But I don't understand the racial (accusations). The entire team is African-American."
McCullough and Jerry Wilson, pastor of Freedom Missionary Baptist Church, said they got involved after parents came to them complaining that their kids weren't invited to summer basketball camps and a preseason tournament, and were cut from the team earlier this month. They said the parents questioned Tidwell about his selection process, but weren't satisfied with his answers.
Tidwell "said there were five factors he looked at – whether they were coachable, academics, commitment level, behavior and athletic skill," Wilson said. "We found a flaw in that ... None of these boys had a problem with that. But let's just say it was their skill level. You had all summer long to work with them. There were open gyms, but they weren't invited."
"We have racial profiling going on," McCullough said, adding that's the only explanation in his mind. "He took a look at the way the young men wore their hair, and made comments about that and whether he thought they should be hanging out with certain people."
The ministers said they took their concerns to Neil, but weren't satisfied with his response, which he gave them Monday night. "He said he's not going to make a change at this time," Wilson said.
"It's an easy fix," McCullough said, adding Tidwell should reinstate the players.
The two organized a meeting Tuesday night, which drew about 20 people – mainly ministers, parents and seven students who didn't make the team. They included seniors Omar Kelly, Dustin Noel, Darius Shields, Isaiah Carter and Leonard Bryant, junior Clowzell Adams and sophomore Jarren Wilson. While most have played before, some haven't.
Before the meeting, Kelly said he felt Tidwell discriminated against him and senior Ayron Worthington, who wasn't at the meeting, because they wore braids. But he acknowledged that two other players who were not cut also wear them.
Noel said his mother was told that he wasn't committed and lacked skills. "His idea of building a program ... he wants to start with younger kids and build up the program."
Debra Gouard, a local minister and Bryant's mother, was incensed when Tidwell told her and other mothers that he chose the best players for the team, but that he didn't have his selection criteria in writing. She said the mothers are starting a petition to get the students reinstated and Tidwell removed.
Both McCullough and Wilson called for a boycott of classes and basketball games, and pickets at the administration building.
"If the community is behind us, and the students are behind us, I think we can get some things done," said McCullough, who urged the students to convince their classmates to boycott school and adults to miss work so they could picket on Monday. "It's going to take doing abnormal things to get abnormal results. ... They think we're bluffing. We've got to show them and commit to the cause."
"We just want some answers," Wilson said.
Neil said he didn't believe that Wilson or McCullough would suggest a student boycott.
"I've got to believe that's not what they're proposing," he said. "I know those two gentlemen, and I don't think they would want kids out of school or do anything to impede the progress of the school."
But, the principal said, if students do participate in a boycott, it will be counted as an unexcused absence.
McCullough said he would ask students to boycott in a rotation so that they don't miss consecutive days and fall behind in their classes.
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/lo...lle_cry_foul_over_high_school_basketball_cuts
DANVILLE – Some black community members have accused the Danville High School boys basketball head coach of racial profiling for cutting at least eight black players from an all-black team.
Now they're planning to organize a protest in an attempt to get Coach Gary Tidwell, who is white, removed.
"We need to play hard ball to get some answers," said Frank McCullough, pastor of Mount Olive Christian Church.
But school officials insisted there has been no racial discrimination and said they stand by Tidwell.
"The coach chose the student athletes that he thought were the very best players and would help the team be successful this year," Principal Mark Neil said. "That was the basis of the choice.
"I feel for the ones who did not make the team," Neil said. "It's got to be tough on them and tough for their parents. ... But I don't understand the racial (accusations). The entire team is African-American."
McCullough and Jerry Wilson, pastor of Freedom Missionary Baptist Church, said they got involved after parents came to them complaining that their kids weren't invited to summer basketball camps and a preseason tournament, and were cut from the team earlier this month. They said the parents questioned Tidwell about his selection process, but weren't satisfied with his answers.
Tidwell "said there were five factors he looked at – whether they were coachable, academics, commitment level, behavior and athletic skill," Wilson said. "We found a flaw in that ... None of these boys had a problem with that. But let's just say it was their skill level. You had all summer long to work with them. There were open gyms, but they weren't invited."
"We have racial profiling going on," McCullough said, adding that's the only explanation in his mind. "He took a look at the way the young men wore their hair, and made comments about that and whether he thought they should be hanging out with certain people."
The ministers said they took their concerns to Neil, but weren't satisfied with his response, which he gave them Monday night. "He said he's not going to make a change at this time," Wilson said.
"It's an easy fix," McCullough said, adding Tidwell should reinstate the players.
The two organized a meeting Tuesday night, which drew about 20 people – mainly ministers, parents and seven students who didn't make the team. They included seniors Omar Kelly, Dustin Noel, Darius Shields, Isaiah Carter and Leonard Bryant, junior Clowzell Adams and sophomore Jarren Wilson. While most have played before, some haven't.
Before the meeting, Kelly said he felt Tidwell discriminated against him and senior Ayron Worthington, who wasn't at the meeting, because they wore braids. But he acknowledged that two other players who were not cut also wear them.
Noel said his mother was told that he wasn't committed and lacked skills. "His idea of building a program ... he wants to start with younger kids and build up the program."
Debra Gouard, a local minister and Bryant's mother, was incensed when Tidwell told her and other mothers that he chose the best players for the team, but that he didn't have his selection criteria in writing. She said the mothers are starting a petition to get the students reinstated and Tidwell removed.
Both McCullough and Wilson called for a boycott of classes and basketball games, and pickets at the administration building.
"If the community is behind us, and the students are behind us, I think we can get some things done," said McCullough, who urged the students to convince their classmates to boycott school and adults to miss work so they could picket on Monday. "It's going to take doing abnormal things to get abnormal results. ... They think we're bluffing. We've got to show them and commit to the cause."
"We just want some answers," Wilson said.
Neil said he didn't believe that Wilson or McCullough would suggest a student boycott.
"I've got to believe that's not what they're proposing," he said. "I know those two gentlemen, and I don't think they would want kids out of school or do anything to impede the progress of the school."
But, the principal said, if students do participate in a boycott, it will be counted as an unexcused absence.
McCullough said he would ask students to boycott in a rotation so that they don't miss consecutive days and fall behind in their classes.
