E. Lansing Players Allege Racial Taunts, Obscenities While Playing S. Lyon
November 15, 2021
By Jon King / jking@whmi.com
UPDATE: This story has been updated to add comments from the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
While South Lyon High School’s football team is celebrating a regional championship following Friday’s win over Portage Central, the fallout from an incident the week before continues to reverberate.
On Friday, November 5th during the Division 2 district final between South Lyon and East Lansing, a spectator sitting in the South Lyon fan section yelled out an obscenity at the visiting East Lansing football team while they took a knee during the national anthem, something the Trojans have been doing since last season. The moment was caught on a cell phone video, a link of which was provided to WHMI by the South Lyon district.
@SouthLyonHS students thought is was classy to yell vulgar and racially charged words to the East Lansing HS football team. #classless #Ignorance pic.twitter.com/sIr87P4zgK
— Lynette Long (@LSL1908) November 6, 2021
Since that revelation came to light, there have also been accusations that players for South Lyon leveled racial slurs at East Lansing players, including the use of the N-word. The issue of the fan yelling the obscenity was confirmed by the district, which stated that the spectator was not a district student nor affiliated with South Lyon Schools.
As to the allegation of racial epithets, that has been strongly denied by South Lyon officials, including in a school-wide announcement made Friday at South Lyon High School, a recording of which was provided to WHMI. In the recording, a school official, identified as the Assistant Principal, is heard over the intercom saying;
“The East Lansing game officials and coaches have been questioned and no such concerns were brought to their attention during or after the game. At no point have concerns about sportsmanship about our student-athletes been raised by the East Lansing Athletic Director…We certainly don’t believe those actions are representative of our fans or our athletes.”
That was mirrored by a statement issued on behalf of the district by Brian Toth, South Lyon Community Schools Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services. “A spectator at the South Lyon High School vs. East Lansing High School football game made an inappropriate comment during the playing of the National Anthem. It is regrettable that this spectator chose to say the inappropriate comment. Our staff investigated the comment using video and spectator interviews. The investigation has led us to believe the comment was made by a spectator who was standing in our student section. That spectator is not a South Lyon Community Schools student nor affiliated with South Lyon Community Schools. The South Lyon High School athletic director has been in frequent contact with the athletic director at East Lansing High School regarding the allegations of inappropriate comments made by South Lyon High School football players. The East Lansing coaches and game officials have been questioned and no such concerns regarding inappropriate comments were brought to their attention during or after the game. At no point have concerns about the sportsmanship of our student athletes been raised by the East Lansing athletic director. These types of comments are not condoned nor are they representative of our students, staff, and community.”
However, that stands in contrast to several to the statements of several white East Lansing players, who said they heard the N-word directed at their Black teammates, while they were called “[N-word] lovers” and “race traitors.” One of them, Ethan DeWitt, told East Lansing Info that the comments “bring awareness to the situation,” adding “that’s why we kneel.”
Meanwhile, Geoff Kimmerly, the Michigan High School Athletic Association's (MHSSA) Communications Director told WHMI that "The MHSAA’s role in a situation like this one is to get the schools involved talking with each other so they can work together toward a resolution. We were made aware of this by a parent, and when we contacted the schools we found out they already had been in discussion, sharing their findings and other details."