At a recent basketball game between Delaware Military Academy and A.I. DuPont High School, a fight broke out when DMA or students in the stands allegedly used racial slurs including the “n” word. As a result, the A.I. team has been suspended the rest of the season while the DMA players seemingly have not been punished for instigating the incident. I do not condone using force to resolve issues. If there was fighting, then certainly the A.I. players should be punished. With that being said, the use of racist slurs should NOT go unpunished. Details are sparse on this incident and I did reach out to Red Clay Superintendent Dr. Merv Daugherty and Delaware Military Academy Commandant Anthony Pullella to see if they can confirm what actions took place. As of this writing, I have yet to receive a response from either of them.
Apparently, this is not the only incident involving charter schools within Red Clay and Red Clay high schools. Several parents have suggested there was an incident between Charter School of Wilmington and Cab Calloway and the incident with DMA is not the first time racial slurs were said by DMA players.
Without “actual” documentation, much of this is hearsay. However, when enough parents start talking about something, expect a lot of noise. I don’t think this matter is going to quietly go away. For the current school year, DMA has a population of African-American students of 5.8% while A.I. DuPont has 36.1% according to the Delaware Dept. of Education website.
Updated, 10:42am: The News Journal covered the team’s suspension but not a single word was written about the alleged racial slurs.
Updated, 10:55am: The incident did not involve actual assault but players from A.I. rushing to the student seats at the DMA home game. Their coach had explicitly informed them to stay in their seats. Red Clay closed the investigation last week but it was reopened as of today. If anyone has firsthand knowledge of racial slurs being used at this game, please contact the Red Clay Consolidated District Office and Delaware Military Academy.
Updated, 11:00am: I have not received any response to my request for information from Daugherty or Pullella.
Updated, 12:34pm: Red Clay Board of Education member Adriana Bohm put the following message on Facebook:
In regards to the AI/DMA situation and based on information I received I requested the case be re-opened and it was reopened this morning. If folks heard the “N Word” and other racially derogatory language being used at the game please file an official complaint and write a letter to the Red Clay School Board. The email address is RCBOARDMEMBERS@redclay.k12.de.us. You may also message me so we can talk.
Updated, 1:27pm: I heard back from Red Clay Superintendent Dr. Merv Daugherty. I will include my initial request as well as his response:
Merv,
Several people have reached out to me this morning in regards to a fight at a DMA basketball game. What I’m hearing is the AI team has been suspended the rest of the season. I’ve also heard the catalyst for this fight was the use of racial slurs by DMA players that have gone unpunished. Can you confirm any of this? This is under the assumption you would not know or be able to control what kind of punishment would occur for DMA players.
Thanks,
Kevin Ohlandt
Dr. Daugherty’s Response:
Kevin,
We have investigated this incident for several days. We have interviewed coaches, administrators, security personnel, and parents of players from both teams who were at the game. None of those persons interviewed reported hearing any racial slurs. The decision to forfeit the remainder of the season (one game) and the playoffs was made because of the players actions at the conclusion of the game. The account of the incident in today’s News Journal is accurate. And, you are correct in that Red Clay is not responsible for the discipline of DMA students.
Respectfully,
Merv
I have yet to receive a response from Commandant Pullella at Delaware Military Academy. There appears to be some confusion on whether the alleged racial epithets were coming from DMA basketball players or students in the stands.
Updated, 2/23/17, 4:28pm: I have updated this article to reflect that the alleged racial slurs came from Delaware Military Academy students in the stands, not their basketball players. There have been several reports about a hostile attitude at the game towards the A.I. DuPont High School team.
The Season Of Myths 
My son plays basketball for CSW and some of his teammates attend CAB. CAB students play CSW sports and CSW students participate in CAB programs. There have not been any fights. Please don’t start rumors
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Your headline usage of “appears” is horribly misleading. Neither your post nor any press coverage has substantiated a single slur. The coaches for AIHS in fact said they heard none. The accusations did not arise until after the decision to end the season was made.
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The AI players were given the opportunity to write their statements of the incident prior to their principal’s investigation. Only one player from the team apparently did so. If there were racial slurs, don’t you think that the team players would (or should) have brought this up then and there when given the opportunity to do so!!!!!!!!!
WHY DID THEY WAIT UNTIL AFTER A DECISION HAD BEEN MADE TO FORFEIT THEIR GAMES THAT THERE WERE RACIAL SLURS. It sounds to me like they were sore losers who had to justify their bad behavior after the game by using the race card.
YOU are making a horrible situation EVEN WORSE by assuming there were racial slurs. You do yourself, and society a disservice!
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Is that how it went down? And you know this how?
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Your article is an example of how the media is partly responsible for the racial tensions in this country. This incident was thoroughly investigated and the DMA students were found innocent of making any racial slurs. You need to investigate this incident more thoroughly, because you’ll find that AI was in the wrong. Why don’t you write an article about the poor sportsmanship or how these players did not want to take responsibility for their poor actions and tried to interject race in order to take the focus off themselves. If the DMA students are guilty of anything it’s cheering loudly for their players! Shame on you for your slanderous journalism.
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Were you there TM? Are you saying that ALL investigations prove with 100%, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there was no wrongdoing?
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I agree with a good portion of the info on your site but it’s time to give this incident a rest…all indications are that there were no racial slurs said. This was from several parents and staff members that were near the student section. They all indicated that the AI players were completely out of line, acting aggressively, and running upstairs in an effort to assault people in the stands. Who even does that?!! Even IF a racial slur was said, it does not condone violence. They simply lost their cool because they got beat by a team they felt they could “score 100 points against” as one player reportedly said. All along you have been intent on injecting or keeping the racial component going…and it was just was not there. This is clear in your failure to include one important word in the title of your article: “alleged.” I’m glad Red Clay upheld the proper decision and didn’t cave into the typical threats of legal action by certain politicians.
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