9-14-2024 1:26pm

Racist Slur Scrawled on Vehicle of Black Saline Football Player

Saline Area Schools Superintendent Steve Laatsch issued a statement on a racist incident at Saline High School.

"At the end of the school day on Friday, September 13, incidents involving hate speech were reported to Saline High School administrators. Administrators investigated immediately, reached out to victim families, and were able to identify students suspected to be involved," Laatsch wrote.

Laatsch reminded families there are consequences to hate speech acts.

"Students who engage in hate speech (acts) will experience a three-pronged approach to intervention that includes discipline, education, and restorative practices. Student(s) will receive age-appropriate disciplinary consequences that could include detention, suspension from school (in/out) for a period of time up to ten days… The District reserves the right to invoke more severe discipline including the involvement of law enforcement and/or an administrative recommendation for expulsion," Laatsch wrote, quoting the student handbook.

Laatsch said the district is convening a team to provide emotional support to students and staff Monday and through the coming weeks.

"No student, staff member, or individual should ever feel unsafe at Saline Area Schools," Laatsch wrote.

What happened?

Laatsch limited his comments to his statement.

Several people close to the school and Saline High School football team have relayed and/or confirmed the following:

One or two white members of the football team allegedly wrote the n-word on the vehicle of a black football player.

The white players were not in the lineup in Friday's game at Saline High School.

Coach Kyle Short declined to comment on the matter Friday evening. But his post-game comments reflected something other than you might expect for a team that had won 50-0 to improve to 3-0.

"It's been a long three weeks. We've been going through quite a bit here. I'm really excited to see this team grow together," Short said.

The Saline Post did not ask the players about the incident. But the heaviness of the situation seeped through in some post-game interviews.

"It's been a very up-and-down season just with things outside of football. We're getting to be a real close team," said linebacker Coleman Ross. "It feels good after the week we had to go out there and just win."

Saline's Recent History

With Saline up by 40 points in the second quarter Friday, the Pioneer student section chanted "Saline is racist." Those chants were common in 2020 after a black Saline football player went public with a Snapchat video laced with racist slurs. The issue was amplified by national media after racist remarks were spoken during a public meeting on racism.