Cherokee High School Fans Scream Racial Slurs At Visiting Black Athletes

School officials allegedly failed to take action when requested.

I was made aware of the following post made last night on Instagram. Cherokee High School faced off against Brookwood High (from Snellville) in Varsity Lacrosse.

triniti.lax2023

A post shared by triniti cassidy (@triniti.lax2023)

The text attached to the post reads:

After 10+ years of playing a sport that I love I got to play the 1st round of the 2022 GHSA playoffs. And as a black lacrosse player I’ve always recognized the lack of black athletes within this sport. At Brookwood I’ve had the chance to play with so many talented and amazing black lacrosse players. Brookwood HS is one of the most diverse teams in the county. And one of very few teams with an ALL BLACK coaching staff! But today when we went out to Cherokee High School for our playoff game and we’re greeted with audience members screaming the N-word at our players. That is not only completely unacceptable but so heartbreaking for a team like ours. We’ve worked so hard and we deserve respect from our competitors and their fans. Cherokee HS failed to handle this issue and allowed the fans to remain in the stands. Black lacrosse players deserve better.

Some people in the comments claim to have attended the game and accuse the young woman of lying to get attention or because of frustration from their team having lost the game. I believe her and take her allegations seriously.

But for those who refuse to believe things that make them feel uncomfortable, a coach posted a since-deleted comment that corroborates her story and makes it sound like there was some real tension on-site.

Some locals in the comments say “I can’t believe this!” or words to that effect. But sadly I can believe it. I’ve seen racism in Cherokee County all my life. A couple of guys dressed in KKK robes crashed my high school graduation rehearsal (Sequoyah High School, 1993). Our previous county sheriff, Roger Garrison, was photographed wearing KKK robes.

I applaud Triniti’s bravery to go public with what happened and to shame the racists who’ve stained our community’s name for too long. I hope that shame and public pressure will lead to public apologies and appropriate action from our school leadership.

Update

4/28/2022 8:20 PM: Barbara Jacoby, Chief Communications Officer for the Cherokee County School District, sent me the following email from the principal of Cherokee High School to the parents of his students:

Dear Warrior families and community,

As many of you are aware, during the girls’ lacrosse game last night against Brookwood High School, some allegations were made regarding the use of racial slurs by someone in our student section. As soon as the game was stopped by the officials, the CHS administration proceeded to interview parents and students, including a parent from Brookwood who was in the proximity of our student section. None of the spectators could confirm any of the allegations. The CHS administration approached the Brookwood administrator on duty, as well as the coaching staff, to hear their concerns and collect all the information to properly investigate this matter further.

Today, the administration at CHS spent several hours interviewing coaches, players, other spectators and students who were present at the game; none reported hearing any racial slurs. In addition, CHS contacted the Brookwood administration to provide an update on the findings and details. At this time, none of the allegations have been substantiated. Many of the social media statements have been made by people who were not present at the game. If any evidence that confirms such allegations is found, we will address it appropriately. Cherokee High School and the Cherokee County School District do not tolerate the use of racial slurs by anyone on our campuses.

Sincerely,
Rodney Larrotta
Principal
Cherokee High School

Update

4/29/2022 8:00 AM: This story aired last night on WSB-TV in Atlanta with more information and additional context. As reported by Justin Carter, the principal of Brookwood high school believes and supports his students: “We feel the environment was hostile and believe racial slurs were used during the second half of the competition. It is extremely disappointing that someone would use racist language to attack a group of student athletes because of the color of their skin.”