The principal of Lincoln High School in San Diego has launched an investigation after hearing reports that students attending a football game Friday night at San Clemente High in Orange County were subject to racial taunts and slurs.

Lincoln Principal Stephanie Brown said several students attending the game were “met with racial slurs by the fans of the other team.” Others who attended the game said the cheerleading squad left early because of the taunts.

In a letter posted on Facebook, Brown said school officials were taking the incident very seriously and that a vice principal planned to interview all the students involved to document the incident Monday. She said she heard Lincoln students had responded to the taunts and slurs with “the maturity and restraint we would expect.”

Multiple spectators — students and adults — heckled Lincoln players and the cheer squad during the game, using racial slurs including the “n-word,” according to Clovis Honoré, the president of the San Diego branch of the NAACP. He posted a letter on the NAACP website titled “Racial harassment has no place in high school athletics” that was sent to Orange County school officials.


Lincoln players and fans had traveled to San Clemente for a nonconference game, which the Hornets lost 29-0.

Lincoln’s head coach, David Dunn, said players on the field didn’t hear any of the comments but said they heard about it at halftime from the drill team and cheerleaders.

“There were taunts from the stands. The girls were told ‘they should be on leashes’ ” he said. “I was upset because it affected the young ladies. These are 14-, 15-year-old girls. There is no place for it. There was a lack of common decency and respect.”

Dunn said there weren’t any racial comments made by San Clemente players or coaches. “It’s too bad a few people in the stands had to put a smear on it.”


Orange County officials said they also were taking the allegations seriously.

A spokesman for the Capistrano Unified School District said school officials planned to review footage shot by at least four cameras inside the stadium and interview people who attended the game.

“The school is looking at all of the cameras... to see if there were specific instances in the stands or anything else,” said Capistrano Unified spokesman Ryan Burris. “We had six Orange County sheriff’s deputies present, we have private security, we have lots of parents and staff members present, so we will be talking to all of them.”

Officials at both schools asked anyone with specific details or cell phone videos or photographs to share that information with the school as officials try to identify individuals who were involved.


Burris said a member of San Clemente’s administration was alerted during the game that an incident had occurred and was investigating it.

However, Honoré said the NAACP had been told four Lincoln parents had appealed to adults in San Clemente gear to try to get contact information for the opposing school’s administrators but received no response.

“There was no attempt to correct the situation over the public address system,” Honoré wrote, adding that the cheer squad, which was “closer to the spectators and therefore in more direct contact with the racists in attendance” were advised to leave the game.

“We are shocked and disgusted that such blatant racism would occur in 2019 at an athletic contest for high school students,” he said. He said the organization was also “outraged (at) the lack of response shown from the San Clemente administration.”


In his letter, Honoré called on the high school and district to institute implicit bias training for athletics staff, including coaches and administrators.

He also asked the school provide an administrative contact if any similar incident occurs in the future and to make announcements over the public address system at future games “reaffirming that respect is to be shown to all visiting athletes.”

Chris Carter, the principal at San Clemente High, said he was “deeply concerned” by the allegation that racist and offensive comments were directed toward Lincoln students and fans at the football game.

“As the principal of San Clemente High School, I work with my faculty, staff, students, families and community to maintain the highest standards of respect for all individuals,” he said in a letter to Brown and the Lincoln High community released Sunday. “We do not condone racist speech or actions at our school, and we unreservedly condemn hateful rhetoric that targets any person or group.”


Carter said that regardless of the outcome of the investigation, his school planned to take specific action to ensure that “our words and actions meet our high standards and that every single person on our campus as a student, family member or guest feels safe and welcome.”

According to state education data, Lincoln High’s enrollment in 2018-19 was 19 percent African American, 70 percent Hispanic and 3 percent white. San Clemente High was 62.6 percent white.

Generation Justice, a San Diego-based racial and social justice group, has planned a press conference at San Clemente High at 8:30 a.m. Monday to discuss the incident. An organizer said clergy, Lincoln High supporters and community organizations also would attend.

Aeiramique Glass Blake, executive director of the group, said Monday’s press conference would send a clear message that the school does not tolerate racism or hate speech. Glass Blake is challenging Rep. Juan Vargas in next year’s election for California’s 51st District congressional seat.


“This week is National Peace Week and after Friday’s game, we know that we must rapidly respond and denounce hate (and) racism and demand San Clemente High School and community put an educational plan together around racial equality, racial bias,” she said in a statement.

Staff writer John Maffei contributed to this report.