BROCKTON -- In the final minutes of the MIAA D-1 south section quarterfinal boys basketball game on Friday night, March 4, Brockton had cut their double-digit deficit to only five points, but the writing was on the wall.
A block of Mansfield High School student fans -- dressed in red, white, and blue, and many waving American flags -- began chanting “USA” and patriotic music began playing over the loud speaker.
To many of those present, including former Brockton High School student Noube Rateau, the chants were a blatant implication that Brockton players and fans -- many of whom are immigrants -- were un-American.
“It was the USA chant as a taunt that got me mad,” Rateau explained. “I didn’t get the sports concept behind it. The fact that it was so planned was the worst part.”
Brockton School Committee member Brett Gormley did not attend the game, but when he heard about the fans’ behavior he sent an email to the Mansfield School Committee.
“It happened when I was playing,” Gormley said of what he called the “racially charged” taunting. “It’s not a surprise anymore. I’ve seen it happen with many teams (against Brockton).”
Rateau, who recently spent time traveling to dozens of high school games across the state filming his documentary Out of Bounds: Sports in the Inner City agreed that he saw “isolated incidents” of race-based taunting, but, “not as planned or orchestrated as Mansfield.”
Gormley asked the Mansfield School Committee to “make sure that this matter is addressed appropriately by the MHS administration and staff,” and received a response from Chairman Michael Trowbridge, who offered an apology to Brockton students and said he has never witnessed that type of behavior at the school. Trowbridge passed the information along to the Superintendent of Mansfield Public Schools and the high school athletic director for potential further action.
Brockton High School boys basketball coach Bob Boen said he did not take notice of the chants on Friday night.
“When I’m coaching I miss the chants. I don’t really hear what they're saying,” Boen explained. “I'm usually yelling at the kids on the court, so I don’t hear the crowd much.
“I don’t think any of my players were upset about it though. We got a good level-headed group…I even tell the team before every game, don’t listen to the crowd. I just thought the USA stuff was their theme. I mean, we’re USA too, Brockton USA. I was under the impression it was just USA night and we were there.”
Brockton Public Schools Superintendent Kathleen Smith said rivalry is “part of the high school experience,” and is “healthy for kids,” and she has asked for a report of the Mansfield game from BPS Athletic Director Peter Caruso.
“I will say that we teach proper etiquette for our student athletes and I am more than proud of the diversity of our large, urban high school, as well as the expectations we have for how our students represent our City and schools,” Smith said.
Gormley and Rateau both said they blame the adults -- the administration and the parents -- more than the students, but that this should not become “normal” behavior.
“I teach high school so it’s personal,” Rateau said.
“I’m here for the (Brockton High) students,” Gormley said. “We have to protect them.”
https://www.sparkthenews.com/…/brockton-mansfield-basketbal…
Please visit The Spark,
www.sparkthenews.com, and consider subscribing for much more news, sports, photos, podcasts, and local information
I was very offended. The clear implication is that folks with white skins are "true Americans," while folks with brown skins are not. I am disgusted by the right wing's ongoing campaign to roll back the civil rights advances of the 1960's. 
