Danvers Hockey Hazing Fallout Causing 'Unprocessed Racial Trauma'

DANVERS, MA —A lack of sufficient transparency and communication has led to ongoing "unprocessed racial trauma" in Danvers in the two years since school and police officials first became aware of reported racial and homophobic hazing within the high school boys hockey program, according to the North Shore Chapter of NAACP.

North Shore NAACP President Nathalie Bowers said in a news conference Friday that while police, town and school officials have taken some positive steps to address some of the issues, more can and should be done publicly to hold those involved accountable.

"These disturbing events have had a damaging impact on the Danvers community and our prime concern is repairing the broken trust between our community members and town institutions," she said in calling out officials for "failing to execute their authority to investigate and to respond to reports of hate in Danvers."

The School Committee said there were three investigations — internally, through the police and through an independent probe — into accusations of racist language and homophobic locker room hazing within the 2019-20 hockey program, and that appropriate disciplinary actions were taken.

But while the School Committee and school administration argued that privacy laws prohibit the public dissemination of everything that was alleged to have happened and the details of the discipline that those found responsible faced, parents — and now the NAACP — have argued that there needed to be more publicly identifiable consequences for those involved.

"Danvers is still suffering from unprocessed racial trauma because its leaders are not using their authority to hold anyone accountable," Bowers said. "Residents continue to feel scared and vulnerable to racism in the schools and in the town."

Bowers applauded Attorney General Maura Healey's office's launch of a formal investigation into the hazing charges and how the district and town handled them.

The NAACP report recommended the police department modify its hiring practices to the extent allowed within the state civil service system to create more diversity in the department, that the police issue a statement acknowledging the damage that the series of racial incidents have caused within the town, add more training for police and school officials on racial sensitivity and — most specifically — re-assign Sgt. Steve Baldassare — the coach of the 2019-2020 team— from his position as school resource officer.

Bowers said those steps are needed so the town "can heal and have trust restored."

"We have endured unaddressed racism, homophobia and antisemitism in our schools and our community for far too long," said Lisa Silva, a member of a Danvers committee on equity and race during the news conference. "This is not OK. We are not OK with this just being the way it is."

Bowers said that while she allows that Police Chief James Lovell may be correct in determining that no criminal charges were warranted in the hockey hazing incidents, that rooting out racism in a community goes beyond what is technically a criminal act.

"We know in our society being racist and exercising racist behavior is not technically illegal unless someone is hurt," she said. "But do the gray area work and look into the culture.

"Be a leader there."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)