Students from Roy High North of Salt Lake City will be disciplined after taunting Asian American and Pacific Islander basketball players with slurs and dog barks, reports the Salt Lake City Tribune.
As AsAmNews reported earlier this month, the dog barking followed an incident a year earlier when students called opposing AAPI players from Hunter High “dog eaters.”
This year the students did not repeat the “dog eaters” slur, but instead yelled out “go home and eat more rice,” in addition to mocking Latino players.
The Weber School District says it has imposed several sanctions on Roy High, including ordering the students to attend classes on appropriate behavior and participating in restorative measures, reported KUTV.
They’ve also been banned from taunting and barking and the school’s rooting section has been moved to the back of the gym. Staff will be added to games to monitor the conduct of students.
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“As a school, we recognize and acknowledge our behavior has been harmful to others,” Roy High Principal Michael Martini wrote in a letter. “We sincerely apologize to Hunter High and any other communities that have been impacted by these actions.”
A coalition of 17 Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations in the area called for strong action.
“Our communities are tired and unsurprised,” they wrote. “As much as our 150,000+ Asians and Pacific Islanders try to make Utah our home, we are continuously reminded that we do not belong. We wish the state of Utah were a safer place to raise our children. We call on Governor [Spencer] Cox, UHSAA, and school districts to create long-term solutions dedicated to making Utah a safer place for Asian and Pacific Islander families to raise our children.”
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