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lawrence n girlsSTATEMENT FROM LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY REACTION JUST ADDED! Lawrence North played for the semi-state championship against Bedford North Lawrence at Bedford Indiana last Saturday.  Lawrence North’s girls basketball team just happens to be all-Black.  The Bedford/North Lawrence Team is all white. When Lawrence North fans and team arrived at the gym they were greeted by some Bedford students dressed in gorilla suits. That’s right in 2014 in Southern Indiana, a display of outrageous bigotry was shown by some students at the school.  According to a posting on Facebook, Lawrence North officials asked Bedford/North Lawrence Officials to have the students remove the gorilla suits.  They did not.  Lawrence North girls lost the game, but neither they nor their fans lost their cool or composure.  In the face of such disrespect they kept their self respect, cool and composure.  No word on whether Lawrence North or the Lawrence Township Schools have complained to the IHSAA which prides itself on insisting on good sportsmanship from both payers and fans at high school sporting events in Indiana.  The Bedford/North Lawrence girls are coached by Indiana basketball legend Damon Bailey.  He should have immediately put a stop to the foolishness and demanded those Bedford students remove the offending costumes. Meanwhile, late Wednesday aftenoon, the Indianapolis Star reports that the IHSAA is launching an investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, Lawrence Township Superintendent Dr. Shawn Smith commented on the incident in a sattement to AM1310 The Light. The Statement Says : “In consideration of the magnitude of a state semi-final basketball game between the state’s two top ranked teams, the Lawrence North community felt that they were at a disadvantage to contest the game on the home court of our opponent. In addition to this difficulty, there were peripheral incidents that added to an unpleasant experience for our students and fans while at Bedford North Lawrence High School.  We believe most, if not all, of these problems could have been avoided had the game been held at a neutral site. As one of over four hundred member schools of the Indiana High School Athletic Association, we have taken steps to address our concerns. We will be meeting with our elected IHSAA board members later this month to work in concert with them on arriving at reasonable solutions to insure such unfortunate situations do not occur again and that games of this magnitude are contested on a level field of play. We appreciate the efforts of school officials at Bedford-North Lawrence, and have had productive conversations with them since the semi-state game. We are very proud of our girls’ basketball team’s accomplishments this year and look forward to another successful season next year.” A big shout out to the Girls Basketball Team at Lawrence North and to the Fans that traveled to Bedford for their courage under fire and keeping their professionalism and compose in the face out stupidity and racism. Click the Arrow to Hear Community Reaction on Afternoons with Amos to the Incident. Runs 21 Minutes ©2014 WTLC/Radio One.

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