Weld Central Denies Confederate Flag, Racial Taunts At Manual HS Game

DENVER, CO -- Weld Central High School officials and the Keenesburg School District Re3J issued a statement Sunday denying that football team members displayed a Confederate flag and yelled racial slurs at opposing Manual HS team members at a Denver game Friday. The district also announced that they would cancel all further games with Manual HS until further notice and remain in contact with the Colorado High School Activities Assn. (CHSAA).

Manual's principal, Nick Dawkins sent parents a letter Saturday alleging Weld Central team members had displayed a Confederate flag during the first quarter of the game, "offending members of the community."

Dawkins continued: "We asked them to remove the flag and they did so. However, the tension created by the flag led to conflict on and off the playing field. Three of our players were injured during the game, including a student who suffered a concussion and a student who was transported to the hospital for a leg injury....In addition, some of our players reported that, when tackled, players from the opposing team taunted them with racial slurs."

The D R33J statement said school officials had watched a video of the game and had seen no flag. They referred to Dawkins' allegations as "what currently appears to be a false accusation."

The letter from Supt. Greg Rebanhorst and Weld Central Principal Dan Kennedy said the school district and the board "do not condone any form of racism, including symbols of racism and hatred and racial slurs about others... The Confederate flag and any other symbols of hate and racism play no role in our district."

Keenesburg, pop. 885, describes itself as" The Home of 500 Happy People and a few soreheads" in a sign on the edge of town.

The district's mustached Yosemite Sam-style "Rebel" mascot, was chosen in the 1960s for both the high school and middle school.

In August, the team's mascot came under fire after a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Alumna Emma Locke, of LaJunta posted a petition asking that the school retire the Rebel mascot.

There isn't any reason to be ashamed of what the school has accomplished, but it's time to put a new page in our history book and not force students of color to look at symbols of white supremacy at every pep rally and baseball game.

Locke's petition garnered around 50 signatures, but a response petition posted by Christopher Winters called "Keep the mascot as the Rebels" received more than 1,200 electronic signatures in August, but only one since the game occurred.

Sunday, Denver Public School officials stuck with their narrative about the confederate flag and the racial slurs.

"Several Manual staff members, coaches and family members saw the flag being flown, and they asked for it to not be flown and the other team complied," Jessie Smiley, spokeswoman for Denver Public Schools told the Greeley Tribune. "The people saying they didn't see it — perhaps they missed it. Anything is possible."

Read Greeley Tribune's Coverage Here:

Image: Weld Central mascot image from petition to "Keep the mascot as the Rebels."