Opinion |

Lincoln vs. Cathedral: It’s bigger than football

Reform is hard.

It can’t happen when people on the two sides of an issue are dug in, defiant and defensive. There must be a willingness to find common ground — even if it’s not an exact meeting in the middle.

I’ve written a lot lately about the idea of finding common ground, which seems imperiled. Mask and vaccine mandates have certainly put it to the test.

In schools, matters of race and ethnicity have created deep (and deepening) chasms. We saw it in Coronado earlier this year, when fans of the Coronado High School basketball team tossed tortillas at their opponents following a hard-fought game. The supposed celebratory gesture garnered attention (and no shortage of anger) from around the country. To many, it appeared to be a taunt. Coronado is a wealthy, White community; the other team played for Orange Glen High School in Escondido, where 80 percent of the student body is Latino. Coronado’s division regional basketball championship was revoked.

And just recently, Lincoln High School head coach David Dunn announced that his football team wouldn’t play their scheduled game against Cathedral Catholic High School. The decision stemmed from a controversial social media post that surfaced in April following last season’s matchup. It showed Cathedral student athletes wearing T-shirts that said “Catholics vs. Convicts III” with the caption, “We run the city.” Others flashed what appeared to be a gang sign.

The phrase on the T-shirts dates back to a 1988 college football game between Notre Dame and the University of Miami — a play on Notre Dame’s Catholic image and Miami’s notoriety, after several team players had been arrested and lost their scholarships.

It’s telling that the slogan has endured, more than 30 years later, despite the anger and outrage that it caused. Dunn, his players and the Lincoln High School community had a similar reaction to the shirts. Lincoln students are predominantly Black and Latino and come from low-income families.

Following an investigation of the April incident, the San Diego City Conference (SDCC) sanctioned Cathedral’s athletics program. The school was placed on probation through the 2022-23 athletic season. Some students were suspended. In addition, Cathedral was instructed to implement restorative justice and diversity education for its entire athletic program and to submit regular progress reports to the SDCC.

In his letter regarding the cancellation (which resulted in a forfeit for the Lincoln team), Dunn acknowledged the efforts made by the Cathedral community to connect with Lincoln’s coaches and faculty, but said the efforts didn’t go far enough. Dunn wrote, “More deliberate intentional efforts to combat racism are warranted. Combatting racism and anti-blackness takes daily, intensive inner work and systems change.”

Coaches for Racial Equality is a San Diego-based group of coaches, athletes, parents and officials who gather biweekly to discuss racism and social justice in sports. Dunn joined their virtual conversation on Oct. 27, two days after his letter went public.

Dunn told the group, “We are tired of being treated unfairly — unjustly — and thinking that everything’s going to be OK. You can’t put a timeline on healing.” The decision, Dunn said, was bigger than football: After talking to his team members individually, he knew that Cathedral’s behavior had deeply affected their mental health. And so, Dunn had to stand up and say something, thinking that the matter wasn’t properly addressed.

Amid the discord, the coach recalled his own experiences, growing up four blocks from Lincoln High. As a 9-year-old budding footballer, Dunn was told that when he played in certain places, he would be treated differently, stepped on and called names. He was instructed to “deal with it” and not retaliate. Dunn asked, fairly, “How do you process that as a 9-year-old?” What is the effect, if you accept what’s unacceptable?

Dunn has spoken similar words of caution to his 9-year-old grandson, 40 years later. Still, he is optimistic that there’s a path forward — a way to get things fixed. It will start with a conversation between Dunn and Sean Doyle, Cathedral’s head coach. More than diversity training — which is certainly a step in the right direction — it’s dialogue that can foster healing and lead to systemic change.

The Coaches for Racial Equality conversation was moderated by Michael Brunker, a former college and pro basketball coach who led the Jackie Robinson YMCA for 22 years. I asked Brunker what it would mean to “get things fixed” in high school sports. All coaches would do the right thing, he said, when it comes to matters of race. So would the players, fans and officials. But first things first, Brunker added: “The victim must be made whole.”

There it is. Reform is hard.

Dinkin is president of the National Conflict Resolution Center, a San Diego-based group working to create solutions to challenging issues, including intolerance and incivility. To learn about NCRC’s programming, visit ncrconline.com.