The Illinois High School Association is investigating allegations of racial taunting and controversy between Lincoln-Way East High School and Homewood-Flossmoor High School from two separate incidents that occurred over the weekend.
According to WJOL, members of the Homewood-Flossmoor girls’ cross country team allege that they heard the Lincoln-Way East coach tell his athletes to “run past those monkeys” at a meet hosted by Lyons Township High School. Homewood-Flossmoor leaders plan to pursue legal action despite the Lincoln Way-East coach insisting that it was a misunderstanding.
“The IHSA received a report on September 8 from Homewood-Flossmoor High School, detailing that their student-athletes had been subjected to unacceptable words and actions by athletes and coaches from another IHSA member high school at a cross country meet on September 5,” said IHSA executive director, Craig Anderson. “High school sports are an extension of the classroom and every high school student-athlete in Illinois should be provided the opportunity to compete in a safe space, demeaning words and actions cannot and will not be tolerated. Under the auspices of the IHSA’s Hate Speech Harassment Policy, this report triggers an investigation by the IHSA. The investigation process is now underway, and we will work tirelessly to achieve a resolution that reflects the serious nature of this situation.”
The cross country incident is the second time racial taunting has created controversy between the two schools in just one weekend.
On Friday night, videos showed Lincoln-Way East football players making monkey noises and using racist language toward football players from Homewood-Flossmoor.
“The entire Lincoln-Way school community recognizes the impact and sensitivity of the matter, particularly after the egregious and intolerable behavior displayed by certain Lincoln-Way East students during Friday’s football game,” said Lincoln-Way East in a statement.
According to NBC Chicago, this week, students at Lincoln-Way walked out of classes, protesting the recurring racist behavior from some student-athletes and coaches. They held signs and demonstrated outside the school, showing their support for the impacted student-athletes at Homewood-Flossmoor.
“They be trying to downplay situations like this, and we have to show them that this is actually big,” one student said.
