by Keith Howard

City leaders met Tuesday with representatives from Arlington’s human rights commission at City Hall to resolve tensions stemming from the Feb. 6 taunting of Somerville High School basketball players by Arlington students at Arlington.

At the Feb. 8 meeting of the board of alderman, Alderman-at-large Bruce M. Desmond compared the incident to something that would have occurred in Mississippi in the 1950s.

“Its one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever heard of in recent years. Our boys heard taunting that in my opinion were derogatory and not one person did a single thing.” said Desmond, “They’re just stupid kids but the fact that nobody stopped them is what makes me crazy.”

But Monday, Desmond said he convinced both Somerville and Arlington officials were taking the matter seriously and he was confident the proper steps were being taken.

Desmond said he is now aware that the Arlington taunts of “We’ve got daddy’s! We’ve got futures!” came in response to calls of “Who’s your daddy?” from Somerville fans after SHS had taken a commanding lead in the game.

“None of our coaches, police officers, or teachers present heard what
was said at the game,” said Nathan L. Levenson, Arlington’s
superintendent of schools.

Levenson said he first learned of the incident over the weekend from phone calls.

Based on the his internal investigation of the incident, Levenson said Somerville fans began what was reasonable fan participation for a sporting event, but it escalated, as the Arlington fans responded, into something unfortunate and disrespectful. “It became a sad and bad thing,” he said.

A Somerville High School basketball team assistant coach told the school’s athletic director, Nicole Viele, Arlington fans chanted racially provocative slogans at the Somerville fans and athletes, said Anthony Pierantozzi, the city’s superintendent of public schools.

Pierantozzi said Viele conducted her own investigation and told him what she had learned Thursday afternoon. Before Desmond’s order on the aldermanic agenda, he had only heard of the complaint that initiated the school department’s inquest.
Later he learned there were at least six chants traded between the two sides at the game, he said. The most inflammatory were “We’re White!” from the Arlington side and “Brokeback Mountain!” from the Somerville side.

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone said the jeering from both sides was inappropriate, but did not rise to the level of racial hatred.

The mayor said he has is working with Pierantozzi and Mary Lu Mendonca, the executive director of human rights commission, to make sure the incident will not be repeated.

“Somerville has no intention of being complacent about racism. Discrimination isn’t something that’s going to disappear. We must continue to educate and confront ignorance, and sometimes hate,” the mayor said.

Desmond sent this paper and other media outlets an opinion piece expressing his frustration and concern. However, after receiving phone calls from two members of the city’s school board, he requested that his piece be spiked.

The board members, Maureen Bastardi and Mary Jo Rossetti, convinced him that he should give the process time to work out and avoid an escalation of emotions that could affect student morale inside the high school.

Desmond said he will wait and see. But, in the wake of his bringing up the issue at the board meeting, he has received multiple reports of racially provocative behavior from Arlington students at other events, he said.

“We don’t have these problems when we play Cambridge Rindge and Latin or Madison,” he said.

The team’s head coach, Paul Garrity, said there has been poor sportsmanship in the past from Arlington fans. “Well, when they came to our gym they were throwing stuff at our cheerleaders,” he said.

The Somerville boys won their game against Arlington with a score of 61-43.
The team plans to move ahead in their season and prepare to compete for the state tournament. They have won 12 of their 17 games and will compete against Lowell High School on Friday at 7 p.m., on their home turf.