Parents have brought forward complaints about racist taunts that were hurled toward players at two recent high-school baseball games featuring an East Bay school — and what they say was an inadequate response from the district that oversees the campus.
Eugene Lee, who has a child at Albany High School, and Anatalio Ubalde, whose child plays for El Cerrito High School, both said they witnessed unacceptable behavior by Pinole Valley High School players during games in April.
Lee captured video of apparent racist chants directed at an Asian player during Albany’s game on April 23. Video recorded a week earlier against El Cerrito also appeared to show a Pinole Valley pitcher launch a verbal taunt at an Asian player following a strikeout, which Ubalde said in a letter to the district was in addition to homophobic slurs hurled by players on the team that day.
“The anger I have from all of this is not the boys. It’s not even the coach,” Lee said. “It’s is the complete lack of an effective response from the district.”
Requests for comment from Superintendent Dr. Kim Moses of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, which represents both El Cerrito and Pinole Valley High Schools, were not returned. Messages left with Pinole Valley athletic directors Denise Roby and Tiffany Valdehueza also were not returned. Officials at Albany High School referred questions back to the Albany Unified School District, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Pinole Valley baseball coach T’won Blake told ABC7 news that the West Contra Costa County Unified School District suspended him and an assistant coach, though it was not clear how long the suspension might last. Blake also did not return a call for comment this week.
Pinole Valley principal Todd Irving sent a formal letter of apology to Albany High, acknowledging the “unacceptable conduct.” That letter, shared by Lee, said Irving and school athletic director Denise Roby met with the baseball team and coaches to “address the seriousness of the situation” and “reaffirmed (that) racist language and unsportsmanlike conduct will not be tolerated under any circumstances.”
The punishment also required that players retake their sportsmanship certification, and the letter said the administration would increase its supervision.
The players in the wake of the controversy put out a social media post saying they don’t discriminate and tagging two Asian players on opposing teams.
Lee, who said his son is one of the players at whom the racial taunts were aimed, said the discipline was painfully soft and that Blake’s suspension was the wrong decision.
“That moment of leverage — that moment where the coach could’ve exercised the full weight of his authority and said, ‘I’ve heard the video, it happened, who the (heck) did it? Don’t want to tell me? I don’t believe what you’re telling me? Fine, the whole team is suspended, and I’m playing with the junior varsity players.’ They lost that leverage in what really could’ve been a strong teaching and impactful moment.”
Lee’s video captures a chant of “Baljeet, Baljeet, Baljeet,” while a pitcher of South Asian descent is on the mound. Later, when Lee’s son enters, somebody yells, “PF Chang is that you? I thought that was you baby Shohei (Ohtani),” referring to the Japanese superstar who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Blake told ABC7 he had no knowledge that his players said anything and that had he been aware it was coming from players, “I would’ve cleared the dugout, the bleachers, or whoever from saying anything racial to any kid. Their coach stands on my third-base line for seven innings, every inning. He walks over there and made no attempts or said nothing to me about being racist.”
It remains unclear whether the chants came from players or from fans or students in the stands.
“I fundamentally believe (Blake) is being scapegoated,” Lee said. “I also believe he missed an opportunity to take action.”
Ubalde, too, said he believes Blake has shouldered an inordinate amount of the punishment — “He absolutely has been scapegoated,” he said — and that the district’s actions weren’t stern enough. That said, he said a message needs to be sent “because this has no place in high school sports.”
“It’s a multicultural school hurling insults at another multicultural school,” he said. “That’s not why we do this.”
“We can talk to umps about not tolerating it. We can redo certifications. We can talk about recommitting to not do the wrong thing,” Lee said. “But if you have racial harassment going, and you let this be the outcome, and the explanation and you accept it, there will never be any real consequences in any athletic event or field that truly will cause change to happen.”
Pinole Valley’s regular season ended May 2.