Opinion

Institutional bias

Posted March 22, 2018 1:00 am

I am writing this letter as a cautionary tale about institutional racism. Our son played recreational third/fourth grade basketball at the Vernon Hills Park District this past year. The coach was treating my son differently (our son is not white), so after the first couple of games, I asked the Vernon Hills Park District if my son could change teams.

They said, "too bad" and would not let us switch. As the season wore on, the coach became more and more overt about treating our son differently. There were 20 coaches in total for the league, and they were all Caucasian. The Vernon Hills Park District leadership is almost all Caucasian. However, Vernon Hills as a town, is very diverse (about 50 percent Caucasian). It is sad that the Vernon Hills Park District does not offer an equal experience for all of its residents.

Jeff Somers

Vernon Hills

Article Comments

Article Categories
Letters to the Editor Opinion

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.