Districts postpone basketball games due to concerns about racially offensive slurs
December 18, 2023 | By M.J. Stafford | observertoday.com
Derogatory social media activity led to the cancellation of last Friday’s, December 1st, Dunkirk vs. Silver Creek varsity boys basketball game.
A statement from Silver Creek Central Schools Superintendent Katie Rolston cited “a racially offensive social media post” regarding the game.
“We appreciate the responsiveness from the Dunkirk City School District to investigate and ensure that our athletes and spectators can participate in events free from racism, aggression and bias,” Ralston added.
The post reportedly targeted a Seneca player. “Silver Creek stands with the Seneca Nation of Indians and all Indigenous community members to promote diversity, equity and inclusion and we are committed to improvements that will benefit generations to come,” Ralston wrote.
Dunkirk Athletic Director Andrew Burnside commented on the affair at last week’s Dunkirk Board of Education meeting.
“It was a series of unfortunate events that started in social media but it’s now turned into a positive direction. We are being applauded on how well (Dunkirk Superintendent Michael) Mansfield and Silver Creek handled the situation as quickly as we did,” he said.
Burnside said the incident will be turned into an educational opportunity. He said Silver Creek Athletic Director Sean Helmer has linked him up with “two different partners that are coming down next week during school and training our high school boys and girls basketball teams on why the posts were insensitive to Native culture.”
Burnside added, “Our high school kids did not know what they were doing. It was not a true act of racism or anything like that. I think it was just ignorance.”
The social media chirping came in the wake of a tight matchup in Dunkirk between the Dunkirk and Silver Creek squads Dec. 1. Dunkirk won that game in overtime, 56-52.
The rematch was to be played in Silver Creek. A junior varsity game was also called off.
According to Ralston, the games could be rescheduled.
“We will look to possibly reschedule the games for a later date, pending investigations and appropriate behavior,” she stated.
