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Racist basketball jerseys prompt parent to resign from school board
Father of one of the team’s players says, ‘I could have done more’
5:50 PMWell, someone has taken responsibility for the basketball team with racist names. A member of the Kings school board in suburban Cincinnati resigned Tuesday night because his son was on the “Wet Dream Team” recreation league squad. The names “Knee Grow” and “Coon” were on the back of two team jerseys.
“I could have done more. I could have said more. So to whatever degree I can help the healing, I will,” Kerry McKiernan said at a regularly scheduled meeting of the board on Jan. 9. “I’m resigning because it’s the right thing to do.”
On Jan. 7, the fourth game of the season, a parent of an opposing team member posted photos of the jerseys on Facebook. The story went viral, and the league kicked the team out. The coach issued an apology to “anyone who was offended” and went silent.
McKiernan said no one on the team meant to hurt anyone. “To whatever degree I’m responsible, I apologize on behalf of Kings to anybody that was hurt. … There’s no place for hate or prejudice anywhere.”
He defended his son as “beautiful, he’s kind, he’s loving, he’s never been in trouble, he’s never hurt anybody. He’s good to everybody. He’s a beautiful kid. Supportive to everyone.”
“He and I are guilty of association, some very bad decisions, some bad choices. We’re guilty of not saying no. But the reality that our family is associated with this is heartbreaking. It breaks my Christian heart. There aren’t any excuses or explanations, and I’m not going to try and make any. As a parent, there were reasons I didn’t say more, there were reasons I didn’t do more. … I never saw my role as anything other than a father of one of the players.
“We must learn that we are responsible all the time in every circumstance to stand up to prejudice, bigotry, stupidity, in both what we say and how we act, regardless of our age or our position. … I could have done more. I could have said more.”
It will be interesting to see what further fallout and lessons emerge, it is hoped as soon as Monday — the holiday honoring late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“We’re not ignorant enough, or naive enough, to say that we don’t have a problem,” said school superintendent Tim Ackerman.
The Census Bureau website estimates the population of Kings Mills as 1,470 — and says that all 1,470 residents are white.