Detroit High School football team targeted for racial slurs while celebrating semifinal victory

DETROIT –A Detroit high school football team were the target of racist slurs as they celebrated their semifinal victory last week.

The match between Martin Luther King Jr. High School and Mason High School was held at Wayne Memorial High School. The two schools discuss what happened.

“We were happy to be victorious so we were in the end zone. Principal (Damian) Perry introduced himself and we did our usual prayer, ”said Martin Luther King Jr. High School athletic director Barry Cannon.

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Cannon said they are celebrating their big win in the Division 3 semifinal soccer game against Mason High School. He said he received a phone call later from Principal of Mason Schools.

“An inflammatory and derogatory type of language has been used by one of their fans or several of their fans,” Cannon said.

Perry said he was proud of the way the school’s coaches, managers and players handled the situation.

“I think Michelle Obama said it best, when others go low we’ll go high. I think that’s our school mantra. It’s been our school’s legacy and it really speaks to who we will be and always have been, who are leaders, ”said Perry.

The Superintendent of Mason’s Schools, Ronald Drzewicki, issued the following statement:

“Over the weekend, members of the Mason community had the pleasure of cheering on the Mason High School varsity football team in the state semifinals for the first time in the history of the program. While we take pride in the performance and sportsmanship of the teams and coaches, we were disheartened that some Mason individuals attending Saturday’s game used hateful language and racist slurs in their conversations. These actions and words will never be tolerated by Mason Public Schools.

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The administrators of Mason Public Schools (MPS) are addressing this racist behavior and it will not be tolerated in our schools or during our activities. It is extremely important that inappropriate language or actions are immediately reported to school staff on site.

As stated in the resolution adopted by our Board of Education, MPS opposes any derogatory, inflammatory or otherwise inappropriate language, behavior, policy or practice that may have an impact on the physical, emotional and psychological safety of others. In cases where this expectation is violated, we will endeavor to respond, educate and hold ourselves accountable for the school community we want in Mason Public Schools. Thank you to the people who continue to defend these values.

We will continue to strive to create an environment where our students, staff and community respectfully recognize, understand and value each other’s diverse cultures, lifestyles, experiences, perspectives and identities with a commitment to combating discrimination and racism.

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Principals at Martin Luther King Jr. High School said they were putting the incident behind them and focusing on the biggest prize, which was the DeWitt High School Championship game on Saturday at Ford Field.

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