The San Francisco Unified School District has confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle that a high school baseball coach has been suspended after being accused of mocking an Asian American player.
Don Papa has been head coach since 2004 at Galileo, a high school with a large Asian American student population.
Papa allegedly used a fake Chinese accent as he screamed at one of his players who was on first base.
Two parents who were at the game say the incident occurred.
“Mr. (Don) Papa is not coaching the Galileo baseball team,” Gentle Blythe, spokeswoman for the San Francisco Unified School District, said in an email.
The incident happened February 24, but did not become public until a parent of a fellow baseball player went to the media with his outrage.
“Galileo High School and the San Francisco Unified School District expect and insist that all members of our community be treated with respect. Bullying of any kind, including slurs, racist remarks or other forms of harassment, is unacceptable,” said district spokeswoman Gentle Blythe to the Huffington Post.
Papa has been silent on the issue saying “I’d provide detailed facts but advised by my Union not to discuss this dilemma with ANYBODY!!!!”
The Organization of Chinese Americans, the Asian Pacific Islander Council of San Francisco and the San Francisco chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League issued the following statement.
“[We] are troubled by the actions of Galileo high school’s head baseball coach, Don Papa, in regards to mocking one of their Asian American players using a Chinese accent. 62.9% of Galileo’s high school population consist of Asians. Mr. Papa’s actions reinforces bigotry and intolerance against the Asian Pacific Islander community in this politically charged environment where our refugee, immigrant, Muslim, South Asian, and Jewish communities are being targeted. This behavior is unacceptable and we demand transparency on behalf of Galileo High School’s Principal, Michael Reimer, and the San Francisco Unified School District on their disciplinary actions for Don Papa and their plan moving forward to ensure this does not happen again.”
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