Submitted by Susan Marrinan, President, Coronado Democratic Club
On June 19, 2021, the Coronado High School Basketball team won the CIF District Championship. Instead of celebrating, shaking hands with the Orange Glen coach, and exhibiting good sportsmanship, our coach allegedly told our visitors they were losers and to get the f___ out. The verbal exchange escalated into a chaotic altercation during which a few of our team members, and others, threw tortillas at the Orange Glen team and coaches. The tortillas were thrown in anger and disrespect, not celebratory joy. This racist, thoughtless behavior hurt the Orange Glen team, their coaches and parents, and fans. As one Orange Glen father said to the school board, he’d been to hundreds of games and has never seen anything like this. To say that the Hispanic community is outraged is an understatement. On June 22, the CUSD Board of Trustees unanimously voted to fire the coach for unsportsmanlike conduct. We support the Board’s decision and know that it is just a first step in restoring Coronado’s good name.
One fact that has come to light is that a Coronado resident, Luke Serna, took the tortillas to the game. Mr. Serna is a CHS and UCSB graduate and a member of the Hispanic community. He was also a member of the Coronado Democratic Club. He joined the club in August of 2020 and served on the scholarship committee. We were shocked to learn that he was responsible for taking tortillas to the game. We had no prior knowledge of his involvement. We explicitly condemn this behavior. It in no way reflects our club values. He acted on his own, without our knowledge, and certainly without our consent. Immediately upon learning of his actions, I accepted his resignation from the club.
As Americans and Democrats, we support inclusivity and treating others with respect at all times. We do not condone acts of racism or hurtful behavior toward anyone for any reason, including their race, ethnicity, or religion. The Coronado Democratic Club supports opportunities to overcome the barriers of racism and proudly stands for any movement that tries to build a more just and equal society. This hurtful incident illustrates how far we all have to go.
We also support a complete and thorough investigation by the School Board, CIF, and the Coronado Police Department. Those shown to be responsible should be held accountable. We may never know the complete story, but we need to acknowledge that our guests from Orange Glen were offended and hurt. Words don’t mean much unless they are followed by action. We believe the community needs to respond to the facts as soon as they are uncovered in a way that may alleviate the Orange Glen Community’s pain and further show that, as a community, Coronado is willing to learn from our mistakes. It is not just children who need to know how to be kind to others. Adults need to learn a lesson about grace and tolerance too.
There is an ongoing debate here and nationally about what is “racist.” We are part of this debate. We do not live in a race-free bubble. Racism exists, and changes need to be made in both attitudes and actions. What happened on June 19 illustrates just how much we need to support anti-bias education not just for our children but for our whole community. The weak responses that “the tortilla throwing was not intentionally racist,” or, “but they do it at UCSB ” miss the point. Somehow our former club member and other members of the Coronado community thought it was acceptable behavior. These deflective responses vividly demonstrate how much we all need to be educated on the subjects of grace and dignity. It may be a tradition at UCSB for the Gauchos to toss tortillas to celebrate a win, but it has never been a tradition here and never should be. Many traditions are now being seen through the eyes of those who they hurt. That’s what awareness means.
What should have been a night of celebration is now a night of shame. We are sorry to say that one of our former members has brought such negative attention to our town, and we offer our apologies to our guests from Orange Glen.
The Coronado Democratic Club pledges to help move our club and our community forward and do everything it can to learn from the terrible altercation of June 19.
Our response will demonstrate our values. As one of the speakers at the School Board meeting on June 22nd observed, “Our children are watching.”
Susan Marrinan
President
Coronado Democratic Club
