NAACP hosts town hall over alleged racial slurs made by members of Bellaire High School’s baseball team

HOUSTON – The Houston NAACP hosted a city hall forum Tuesday to explore claims of racism and racist remarks allegedly made final thirty day period by customers of Bellaire Significant School’s baseball workforce, directed at Westbury High School’s baseball workforce.

“If a teacher or mentor tolerates and accommodates racism they are perpetuating a difficulty,” reported Bishop James Dixon, president of the NAACP Houston department.

At the middle of the calls for termination are Nick Ozuna, Bellaire Substantial School’s head baseball mentor, as properly as his assistant coach Robert Manuel. The two are accused of not correcting their players’ alleged racist taunts.

Considering that the allegations were being manufactured earlier this thirty day period, HISD verified both of those coaches have been reassigned pending the end result of an interior investigation.

Amelia Robinson, whose son is a member of Westbury’s baseball group, was amongst those people to address the audience for the duration of the city hall conference.

“As my son is strolling off, I see that he is quite upset,” Robinson recalled, incorporating she did not listen to what is been alleged but stated her son did. “He stated to me as he was batting and doing work in the outfield that they were being building monkey phone calls to him and his players.”

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Those people who desire HISD terminate each coaches claimed the re-assignment wasn’t superior adequate. They also accused Ozuna of earlier racist remarks.

Larry McKenzie, an HISD instructor and baseball coach, reported the students accused of making racist responses ought to be disciplined as perfectly.

“That was an HISD-sponsored action. Racism and bullying is a level 3 and degree four offense in the pupil code of conduct,” McKenzie reported.

How HISD should respond was the focus of the dialogue, during which two Bellaire teachers spoke. They also explained they were alums of the superior school and urged attendees to permit HISD’s investigation play out — as a substitute of judging all of Bellaire Large College.

“There’s a cause why we educate at Bellaire Substantial College. On some level everybody at Bellaire Higher Faculty has been demonized,” explained Tanya Andrews, a trainer at Bellaire Higher College.

HISD Superintendent Millard House II also attended the conference but did not communicate to the audience. In advance of the assembly commenced, Dwelling explained to reporters he would not make community feedback, citing the ongoing investigation.

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“I’m right here to hear,” Dwelling claimed.

Christopher Tritico, the lawyer symbolizing Ozuna, denied allegations of racism, calling calls for his termination a “smear marketing campaign.”

“Coach Nick Ozuna is the victim of a smear campaign which has left him not able to defend himself by his employer’s directive not to speak about the investigation while individuals who yell ‘F bombs’ at significant school baseball online games accuse him of staying a racist,” Tritico wrote in a assertion to KPRC 2.

Tritico continued, stating Ozuna’s 18-yr-history at the large college speaks to his leadership.

“Coach Ozuna participated entirely with the district’s investigation, answered each and every dilemma, and turned in nearly 100 letters of help from recent and previous gamers and mother and father from all walks of lifetime, like quite a few who have been in attendance at the Westbury activity and a witness to all alleged functions,” Tritico wrote.