Seattle Public Schools Face Crisis In Athletics Over Dignity And Identity

By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium

Following a series of recent events in inner-city high school athletics, including the firings and resignations of long-time coaches, and most notably the Garfield junior varsity basketball team wearing Rainier Beach basketball jerseys during the annual “Hood Classic” rivalry game, growing concern has emerged about the current state of athletics within Seattle Public Schools, particularly in the predominantly and historically Black inner-city schools.

Keisha Credit, a Seattle native and Garfield High School graduate, said that she and her fiancé remain closely connected to the school and are deeply disheartened by the recent incidents within the local high school athletic community.

“The role that athletics plays [in the Black culture of Seattle] is deep,” said Credit. “Sometimes we have a toxic relationship with athletics, because a lot of our Black males are taught that athletics is a way for them to feel empowered and to ‘get out of the system.’ Seattle is not a poor place, so you have Black kids being taught that athletics is a way to get out of a city that is literally one of the richest cities in the nation, and we are being taught and indoctrinated into a culture that makes us believe that we are poor.”

Terrell Elmore, a proud Garfield alum who has been coaching basketball and football for at least 30 years, says that people in the community don’t know how to feel about the recent firings and resignations of Black coaches in the area because Seattle Public Schools nor the building leadership at Garfield has provided the community and or alums with a proper explanation.

“We really don’t know what the reason is, and we would love to know the reason, whether it is good or bad,” says Elmore. “With Corey (the former head football coach at Rainier Beach), he was three games [into the season before his departure]. Tavar (the former head basketball coach at Franklin) was a couple games [into the season], and then [the firing of the boys and girls basketball coaches at Garfield] was a couple weeks before the basketball season began,” said Elmore. “So, from that standpoint, I didn’t really care for it, and it was just like, ‘Where are all the Black coaches going?’”

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For Lashaye Stanton-Phillips, a Seattle native, the news was devastating. She grew up and went to school alongside many of the aforementioned coaches and still maintains strong working relationships with them.

“It is devastating because they are doing something in the community that wasn’t done for us. They are making sure that kids have an opportunity or roadmap that we were not given, and the people behind it (the firings) won’t stand up,” Stanton-Phillips said. “Nobody has gotten up to say, hey, this is why we made this decision. For me, this goes all the way back to taking down the African American Academy school. So, within the Seattle School District, this is a history that they have. I feel like they found an outsider principal (at Garfield) to come in and to tear apart things that are going well.”

Rev. Demetrius Devers, a former Seattle high school sports star and co-captain of the 1995 University of Washington football team, believes that while rules and regulations exist and must be followed by those in leadership, public schools facing limited resources and funding often rely on every available connection to meet their needs, and in this case, prominent coaches in the community have helped to bring in resources and opportunities for the kids.

“Specifically with Seattle Public Schools, we know resources are limited compared to other school districts with greater funding to provide for their sports programs, and that have a greater funding source through their booster programs, so we utilize whatever connections and support systems that we can to make sure that our kids have that Deion Sanders mentality of look good, feel good, play good,” said Rev. Devers. “But I think it is unfortunate that good people are being let go of a job where they were able to bless the community and the kids that deserve it.”

In a recent game, the Garfield JV boys basketball team wore the jerseys of their cross-town rivals, Rainier Beach, because the team did not have its own uniforms available at the time of the game.

“When I saw the picture, I thought it was AI,” said Credit. “When I graduated in 2008, Seattle had a different makeup of beliefs and community, and there is no way that anybody from Garfield would wear a Rainier Beach jersey and have it not turn into a complete brawl.”

Credit believes it’s time to step back and consider what truly matters, winning a game or preserving the dignity of the children.

“These are children, and you put them in a clown suit, allowed them to go out there and masquerade around like fools. And then they lost by an amount that was so unbelievable, it just made it look like a mockery, and I was so worried about the mental health of those children,” said Credit. “How come our kids are not being taught that they can walk away from a situation where they are being embarrassed? It means nothing to forfeit that one game. Literally every excuse that was given was literally an excuse to make it OK to embarrass children.”

“All of these communities need to look themselves in the mirror and say, hey, who do we really care about? Is winning a game and playing a game so important that the dignity of the players has been lost?” continued Credit. “These are children. You’re teaching them how to feel about themselves as men. It’s sickening. It’s sickening. It’s sickening.”

According to Credit, the emphasis placed on sports and athletics within the Black community can sometimes overshadow the importance of morals and values. Over the years, she has seen many former pro players return to Seattle in an effort to give back to the students and communities they once belonged to. However, she says this has not always resulted in positive outcomes, and that emphasis should be placed on character and mentorship rather than profiles.

“Just because these coaches have these credentials in the NFL and NBA, believing they are great in all of these male-led industries, they then come in and believe that they are qualified to coach,” says Credit. “But let’s be real. Just because some people want to lead does not make them good or qualified. Just because they have their own experience being a good player does not mean that you’re a good coach. We all know many of y’all may not be the ones that need to be coaching our boys.”

“But it’s something that’s been taboo to talk about, because these are our greats, right? These are our NFL and NBA players to Black culture. They’re like icons. They’re like gods. But their ethics, morals and values are not of as much importance,” added Credit.

Credit said that unless meaningful changes are made and dignity is prioritized, she would not want her Black sons to attend Garfield High School, despite her deep love for the Bulldog community.

“I don’t know what can be done now. The damage has really already been done, and this is not a community that I feel like my Black sons are safe in,” said Credit. “I think the silence about it from like an actual entity that has the level of importance to make change is sickening. And it’s saying a lot.”

“Why don’t we as Black people feel empowered enough to use our voices? Why don’t we feel empowered enough that we can say something and we can do something in the moment and say, hey, this is not right? It’s like we’re a silent community that’s just onlookers of a downward slope,” continued Credit. “It has gone so far downhill in the athletic community in Seattle that people are now numb to the fact that it’s embarrassing, and that’s scary.”

Rev. Devers said above all, support for the kids at the inner-city schools is the most important.

“Because Garfield is a school with such a rich history and athletic success, not just in basketball, but in track and other programs, I think it is important to support that legacy,” said Rev. Devers. “The community comes together for the love of the school and to support the kids, and I think that the biggest thing that we need to remember with all that is going on is that the kids are the ones that still need the support.”