Students from Jordan High School (Minn.) brought a Trump 2020 flag to a boys basketball game against Minneapolis Roosevelt, a predominantly black school that has been staying in the locker room during the national anthem, last week. The school caught a lot of shit for the fans’ flag and promised to look into the matter. On Sunday, in a case of symbolism that might be too obvious, JHS dropped out of an invitational tournament … hosted by Minneapolis Roosevelt … scheduled on MLK Day.
Paul Walsh of the Star-Tribune shared a statement from the district’s superintendent:
“Given recent events, we believe the participation of our team in the event will detract from the hard work of the athletes and the upbeat focus of the MLK Showcase,” Jordan School District Superintendent Matthew Helgerson said in an e-mailed statement Sunday.
“After discussion with the MLK Showcase event coordinator, a decision has been made to pull out of the MLK Showcase game on Monday, January 21st,” the statement said. “We do not want our presence at the event to detract from the athletes. We will continue to work with the Minneapolis School District … to move forward in a positive direction.”
JHS’s first game of the MLK Showcase would have been against Minneapolis Patrick Henry, also a predominantly black high school. That school’s coach, Jamil Jackson, said the event organizers had been told JHS feared for the players’ safety if the team had showed up to the tournament at MRHS. Superintendent Helgerson reportedly told the Star-Tribune, “Fear was not our reason.” Uh huh.
This sure is a lot of extra work to cape for a group of students who were being assholes when they brought a Trump flag to a game against a school’s team that stays in the locker room for the national anthem. Weird who gets the benefit of the doubt, right?
[Star-Tribune]
H/t to Marcus
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