Parents of girls on the Ledyard High School basketball team are voicing their frustration over the response by Colchester Superintendent of School Jeffrey Burt to an incident in which racist slurs were hurled at the Ledyard players after a recent game with Bacon Academy.

Both school districts have said some Bacon Academy parents used racist slurs against the Ledyard players during a Feb. 5 game at Ledyard High School. An adult spectator was escorted from the game and "additional spectators acted in a belligerent manner and others made statements of a racist nature, including the use of the ‘n-word,’" Ledyard Superintendent Jason Hartling has said. Those spectators were officially banned from Ledyard school district facilities.

Burt apologized and said the behavior, which included racial taunts by some adults aimed at youths, is "unacceptable, and stands directly against our school system's commitment to common decency and sportsmanship." He added that "there is no evidence that (Bacon Academy) student-athletes took part in the negative behavior. We ask for the online harassment of these students to end immediately.”

in an email to Burt on Friday, Ini and Akaninyene Inyang, whose two daughters play on the Ledyard team, called his apology insincere because he countered it by stating Bacon Academy students are getting harassed because of the actions of their parents.

The Inyangs said the Bacon Academy players should have spoken up to curb the behavior.

The Inyangs called for suspending the Bacon Academy girls' basketball team from games for at least 12 months, issuing a strong letter of reprimand to the coach, permanently banning the parents from any sporting events in the area and reporting the involved parents to police so they can be investigated for commiting a hate crime. They said if Burt fails to take action, an outside entity should investigate. 

When asked about the email and whether he planned to take action, Burt said he was not going to comment. Bacon Academy coach John Shea could not immediately be reached to comment.

The Inyangs said the Bacon Academy basketball team “needs to take this time out to learn about diversity and inclusion” and “learn more about other cultures and how to preserve integrity in the midst of adversity.” They called for cultural sensitivity training for the Bacon Academy team, coaches and school leadership.

The Inyangs also said the perpetrators' names should be made public.

Akaninyene said he is an active-duty military member with the U.S. Coast Guard and the family has moved around the United States.

"We've seen many people, many cultures, and honestly this was one of the moments that took you back to the period where you have slavery in the United States and people can say what they want without any sort of consequence," he said.

"It's heavy on these girls to know that people would be doing that to them in this era, so emotionally they are very, very shaken up," Ini added.

Hartling, who spoke with the Ledyard students, said the school district will continue to ensure that the students are supported.

"We respect our parents' right to express their concerns, and I know that everyone is working really hard to address the issue and combating hate and bigotry wherever it exists," Hartling said.

Ledyard Police Chief John Rich told The Day earlier this month that the police were called to the school and they have an active investigation into the events. Rich said Monday that police still are actively investigating, and the assigned investigator is conducting a series of interviews that are still in progress.

Phillis Walker, a parent of a Ledyard basketball player, said parents are saying "not in our schools with our kids." She said every single student on the team is upset by what some spectators did at the Feb. 5 game.

"When they said that word, it affected every last one of those kids on that team," she said.

She said the Bacon Academy girls should be suspended from the team and any titles they won from that game should be taken away because the slur came from their parents and it's happening at home.

"Zero tolerance is zero tolerance," Walker said.

The Inyangs said this is not the first time issues like this have happened. Ini said a student from another school district made a derogatory post about her daughter on social media last year.

They also mentioned that Shea, the Bacon coach, last year allegedly made racially charged comments about members of the New London High School basketball team. Burt and Bacon Academy Principal Matthew Peel sought advice from the National Conference for Community and Justice of Windsor which it had previously provided it with diversity training. 

The Inyangs said Bacon Academy spectators made "monkey sounds and utterances" against the Ledyard players at a Bacon Academy game in Colchester in December 2021. Ini watched the televised game, while Akaninyene watched in person. Akaninyene said it was coming from teenaged boys, who they believed to be Bacon Academy students.

Parent Kelley Hyland, whose daughter is a Ledyard High School senior, said that when her daughter went to make a free throw at the December game, boys and girls in the Bacon Academy fan section made monkey noises.

Walker also said she heard spectators making monkey sounds.

Burt said the email from the Inyangs was the first time the incident was reported to him, but he will look into it.

"We will take appropriate action," Burt said.

k.drelich@theday.com