David Douglas athletes subjected to racism fighting for 'equal playing field'

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A concerned parent is speaking out after he said his son, a JV football player at David Douglas High School, was called a racial slur last week.

This comes after the coaches have been ringing the alarm bells about similar incidents in recent weeks. David Douglas athletes and coaches reportedly endured racial slurs from players and game-goers from opposing Sam Barlow and Adrienne Nelson High Schools at away games.

Though the Oregon School Activities Association has acknowledged and intervened in some of these incidents, coaching staff and parents from David Douglas are still hoping for more sweeping changes to prevent it in the future.

Following weeks of reports of racial slurs being thrown around at games, Jeffery Clem said his son was also called the N-word by a Barlow player.

"That one specific word has lots of history and hurt and is not okay," Clem said. "Our sports are supposed to be a place of fun where we can really bring the little sisters and brothers to come watch their old older siblings play and cheer them on, not to sit and listen to that."

The David Douglas parent said his son is okay physically but he's still having a hard time emotionally.

"They need to put some serious discipline on it, so it stops," Clem said.

KOIN 6 News reached out to the OSAA following several recent incidents, including one where a Sam Barlow student allegedly used the N-word during a varsity football game.

An OSAA spokesperson said they've met with the involved schools' leadership. They said the students involved in those racist incidents are now facing disciplinary action based on internal investigations at their respective schools.

"We were pretty satisfied that they acted within 24 hours," said David Douglas Assistant Coach Marcell Frazier.

Frazier, whose coaching position is volunteer-based, has twice spoken to KOIN 6 News in the past month about racist incidents affecting the team.

"I know from our meeting on Tuesday, parents were very concerned about, you know, the abuse that kids were going through," he said. "I think the community is energized. I think we're going to leverage that into meeting with the school board, letting the school board know our concerns. Let the school board know what our demands are as a team and making sure our kids are safe, ultimately that our kids have a safe, equal playing field."

Frazier said football is a sport meant to be fun and rewarding for everyone, a sentiment echoed by parents like Clem.

"I'm one parent. How many more parents stand up? How many rules can we change?" Clem said.

Frazier said that while the discipline of the students responsible for the racist comments was a step in the right direction, there's still a lot of work to be done. That starts by being vocal about these issues, he said.