LULAC Demands Investigation Into Tortilla Throwing Incident
Nation’s Largest and Oldest Civil Rights Organization Says Apology Is Insufficient in Premeditated Assault on Latinos
Washington, DC - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) today issued the following statement following reports of a tortilla throwing incident that took place Saturday night at a high-school basketball game in Coronado, California. At the end of the game in which Coronado defeated Orange Glen 60-57, players, coaches and staff from Orange Glen were subjected to a rain of tortillas allegedly flung at them by the Coronado side.
“What kind of people and community would allow this type of hateful behavior?” asks Domingo Garcia, LULAC National President. “This was a pre-planned act that took someone going out ahead of time to buy the packs of tortillas, pass them out and be ready to throw them at the Latino team and their coaches at the end of game, irrespective of the score. A spur-of-the-moment act is one thing but this chaotic scene that could have easily turned even more violent was clearly not that. LULAC calls for the Coronado Unified School District and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the assault that took place and take the strongest appropriate actions against those responsible. Players who display actions perceived to be racist are not champions and coaches who allow this behavior are not suitable employees in a public school and should be removed.
Similarly disturbing is the characterization on the Coronado Parent-Teacher-Organization (PTO) Facebook page that throwing tortillas is like heaving ‘Frisbees’ or ‘graduation caps’ into the air as a ‘celebratory action’. Nothing could be further from the truth. Saturday night’s act of throwing tortillas was meant to perpetuate the worst kind of racist reaction against innocent athletes, their coaches and their families. Coronado supporters are trying to play the victim here saying the reaction to the tortilla tossing is ‘extremely upsetting’ to them. Try walking in the shoes of those struck by their projectiles.
LULAC will not accept this behavior as the new normal in America and acts of racial hate directed at Latinos will not be condoned or dismissed as kids-will-be-kids. Concrete, meaningful discipline is warranted and we will monitor the steps taken by the Coronado Unified School District, the CIF and Coronado Police Department in this matter.”
###
About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services, and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting the critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit https://lulac.org/