Institutional bias
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