Dartmouth football player targeted by racial slur awaits apology, says coach

Nearly three weeks after a Black high school football player from the Halifax area was allegedly called a racial slur on the field and a fight broke out, his coach says there has been no apology from the opposing team or the player who used the offensive language.

The incident happened just seconds into Dartmouth High School's game in Bedford, N.S., against Charles P. Allen High School on Sept. 17, according to Dartmouth's head football coach, Lou Velocci.

One of the Dartmouth players, who is Black, held the jersey of another player and a penalty was called. Shortly after, a CPA player called him the N-word, Velocci said. Velocci did not hear it, but said some fans and one other player heard the comment.

"It's just highly inflammatory speech and stuff I just wish didn't ever happen in a game," Velocci said in an interview.

There was then "a bit of a melee" between the players, and they were ejected. Afterwards, Velocci said the governing body, School Sport Nova Scotia, handed both athletes a further one-game suspension.

Velocci said he accepted this outcome at first, but when he reached out to both CPA's football coach and the athletic director he said they told him they were "shocked" by the allegation and didn't believe their player could have said such a thing.

As of Tuesday, Velocci said he had not received an apology from CPA's coach or player.

Velocci said he hears about situations where racial slurs are used in a game once or twice a year, and he has a lot of admiration for the Black athletes who "rise above that every single game" and play their hearts out on the field. 

Usually, the offending player offers an apology and takes ownership for their actions, Velocci said, and the player's team works to make sure it never happens again. But that has not happened this time.

"Our athletes are living this every day, and it's really discouraging for them to say, 'Nobody believes me, and I'm the marginalized one here.' And so that's the part that really is problematic," Velocci said.

CBC requested to speak with the Dartmouth player, but he was not made available for an interview.

Coach calls for more context in punishment

Velocci appealed the suspension, but it was rejected. He said Dartmouth High School also got involved, and sent off another request for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education to review the situation. Velocci had not heard anything as of Tuesday.

What has been missing from the consequences handed out by School Sport Nova Scotia is context, according to Velocci, including some type of acknowledgement that the Dartmouth student's violent outburst on the field against the CPA player came after being racially offended.

"He could have just come off to the sideline, told us, and dealt with it. But that's a hard pill to swallow for somebody in his position," Velocci said

He said the Dartmouth team has rallied around its player, who is playing again. Velocci also brought in prominent Black community members he's coached over the years to talk to the player and share their own experiences of dealing with racism in sports. 

Community advocate DeRico Symonds has not met this player, but unfortunately knows situations like this happen often in Halifax sports. Symonds, who is Black, has run into racial slurs himself while playing basketball, and seen it happen to friends.

"That particular player, and or his family or any siblings and friends, are going to remember that incident for the rest of their lives, whether an apology comes or not," Symonds said.

Symonds said while this is hopefully a learning experience for the CPA player, who should reflect on the history and damaging impact of such slurs, it's a lesson "someone had to suffer for."

When athletes take the field, they're there to compete and have fun, Symonds said, and are not expecting something like this to happen.

"It's almost like taking a physical hit," he said.

While Symonds said it is likely difficult for the player from Dartmouth High School to talk about being the target of a racial slur, he encouraged him, and anyone else facing racism, to reach out to their coaches and family to keep the conversations going and not hold their feelings inside.

He said he's seen restorative circles work in cases like this, where the players, coaches and community leaders come together to talk about what happened.

Governing sport group taking allegations 'extremely seriously'

CBC reached out to School Sport Nova Scotia with questions about the reasoning behind the player suspensions and why the Dartmouth appeal was rejected. Nicole Hersey, a spokesperson with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, sent a statement on behalf of the sport group.

Hersey confirmed there was an appeal and an allegation of a racial slur brought forward. The suspension was upheld "based on the information brought to the appeal," Hersey said.

She said School Sport Nova Scotia takes any allegation of racism "extremely seriously" and it is looking more deeply into how it handles allegations of racial language, Hersey said.

CBC reached out to the CPA principal and athletic director, but did not receive a response.

Doug Hadley, spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, said the two school principals are investigating what happened from a student-behaviour perspective, which falls under the provincial school code of conduct.

Hadley said both CPA and Dartmouth principals have been communicating for more than a week, gathering as much information as they can. One challenge is that any findings will not be shared with the public because every student has a right to privacy, Hadley said. 

"All I can assure them is that if racist behaviour has occurred, there will be consequences," Hadley said in a recent interview.

Besides any consequences, Hadley said the perpetrator will be paired with education around appropriate behaviour. Families can also be involved in addressing issues at home. 

Dartmouth hasn't decided what it will do the next time it plays CPA, Velocci said.

"But hopefully by then at least we have had the conversation, we've had some apologies, we've figured a path forward on this," he said.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.