BARROW COUNTY, Ga — The interim head football coach at Apalachee High School resigned Wednesday during a district investigation into “racially derogatory language.”
One father says the coach told a recent graduate at a junior varsity game, “This is for whites only.”
Charles Kenyon stepped down on Wednesday, the principal told football families and families of students whose classes will get a new teacher.
“The resignation comes as we were investigating reports of racially derogatory language,” the email said.
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Ray Michael Williams says his son, a senior on the team, was in the concession line at the Oct. 15 game when a recent graduate teased Kenyon about the burgers he was grilling.
“He made a comment back to her that this is for whites only,” Williams said.
His son, a senior volunteering at the game, was next and talking with a friend as the band practiced behind the stand. Williams says Kenyon overheard and told the teen to go play guard for the band.
“My son was a little confused and perplexed, but he said, ‘Coach, what do you mean?’ and coach said, ‘Well, you know, color guard,’” Williams said, pointing to his own skin.
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Three parents volunteering in the stand heard the comments, and one emailed Williams that Sunday. His son had not mentioned it because the coach always joked, Williams says.
He says he called the superintendent’s office and the school’s athletic director the next morning, then reached the district’s human resources director, who apologized and started an immediate investigation.
Williams says what his son heard can’t be swept under the rug.
“I’m not gonna accept it as a father, as an African American in the community, as a taxpayer,” Williams said. “It’s not acceptable.”
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