Rally addresses racist remark allegedly said at Middletown/Colchester track meet

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (WTNH) — Community activists and parents rallied on Thursday outside of the Middletown superintendent’s office after a student athlete was allegedly called a racist term during a track meet.

Middletown Public Schools said that it happened on Monday at the meet between Middletown High School and Colchester High School. Middletown students played a song with explicit, racist language, and a student said that the Colchester coach called a player a racist remark in front of others.

“She is an adult from a whole nother school, so why would you think that it was OK to playfully say ‘You are?'” the student’s caregiver, LaToya Dickerson, said. “To me, that makes no sense.”

Colchester Public Schools said in a written statement that “Our coach has made it clear that she feels terrible that a student and her family are hurt by the interaction at the meet,” and that the coach has stepped down as coach.

“She indicates that coaching is about kids, and the spotlight should always be on the student-athletes and not the coach,” the statement reads.

Middletown Public Schools also said that the incident is under investigation.

Gwen Samuel with the Connecticut Parents Union said that the coach needs to understand diversity.

“I don’t even hate the coach, just be a better human being, and I’m glad your step down, because we were trying to get you down, but be a better human being moving forward,” Samuel said.

The local chapter of the NAACP said that the coach did the right thing in stepping down, but is unsure if the coach still has other duties at the school. Anita Ford Saunders, the president of the Middlesex NAACP, encouraged students of color to “Step up and stand up and speak out.”

“Do not be silent,” she said, “because it’s complicity.”

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