Man who brought tortillas to Coronado game says there was 'absolutely no racial intent' Here we go again!

Is this were we are now as a society...really? 

The man who says he supplied the tortillas that Coronado students threw at Orange Glen High basketball players said Wednesday that his intentions were not racist and the district should not have fired its basketball coach. Luke Serna, who is a Coronado alumnus and is half-Mexican, said he brought packs of tortillas and gave them to Coronado players for a celebration. Serna has been active in Coronado Democratic circles and says he is an officer with the SEIU 1000 union.

His statements are the latest wrinkle in an incident that has made national news and has been linked to Coronado firing its head basketball coach, JD Laaperi.

A variety of community and civil rights groups, school district officials, lawmakers and others have denounced the tortilla tossing as racist against the Latino community and people of color in general. Some Coronado community members have pushed back against this characterization, saying there was no racist intent and the Coronado team has been unfairly persecuted.

School district officials, Coronado police and California athletics officials said they are investigating it. The incident began at a heated division championship basketball game Saturday night that Coronado won 60-57. After the game ended, there was an altercation between members of the two teams in the Coronado gym.

According to video recordings of the incident, at least two Coronado players threw tortillas into the air toward the Orange Glen team. The vast majority of Orange Glen students are Latino, and most of the Orange Glen team is Latino. On Tuesday night, the Coronado school board voted 5-0 to fire Laaperi, who also is a teacher and worked at Coronado's Silver Strand Elementary School. The board did not specify why he was fired, nor would district officials say if he retains his teaching job. Some said Laaperi incited the post-game altercation.

Orange Glen head coach Chris Featherly said in a Sunday interview that his team was waiting for a post-game awards ceremony to begin when Laaperi cursed at him and his players, saying "That's why you don't talk (expletive). Get your kids and get the (expletive) out of here." At a press conference at Coronado High Tuesday, two parents of Orange Glen players also said they believe Laaperi started the altercation. But according to Serna, who was at the game, it was the Orange Glen team who confronted the Coronado team after the game.

Serna said Laaperi "handled himself with grace" and ordered his players to the locker room to avoid confrontation. Serna said Laaperi's job should not have been in jeopardy and he believes Laaperi was pressured to send out an apologetic tweet Sunday. Laaperi tweeted, "Unfortunately a community member brought tortillas and distributed them which was unacceptable and racist in nature. I do not condone this behavior."

San Diego Tribune

I am a white guy and old school...if someone threw a pack of saltine crackers at me, I WOULD NOT get offended, I'd upset them by opening them up and eating them....if they were fresh enough. 

Yeah, but if you were a child, and already an feeling down after a loss, as both children and adults alike tend to do, you would probably feel some type of way about a grown ass man bringing crackers to throw at children. And a coach, who is suppose to be teaching these young men sportsmanship, talking shit and cursing at the other team. You're looking at this through the wrong prism. What grown ass man brings tortillas to throw at kids. I think it's hilarious the coach got fired. The parent, assuming he's a parent, should be banned from school activities. We are falling apart as a society. We shouldn't be leaning into it and saying, "It's no big deal." We should be pumping the breaks and saying, "Wait just a god damn minute!" because actions like these, however harmless they may seem, will have societal repercussions down the line. Living in this social media age is killing common decency.

Ok just to be clear pretzels crackers are fine...

But tortillas and Doritos is a hate crime?

@StumpTownStu

 Luke Serna, who is a Coronado alumnus and is half-Mexican, said he brought packs of tortillas and gave them to Coronado players for a celebration. Once he gives them away Stu he has no control over what people do with them...why is this guy even getting heat? that was the whole premise for my posting this...they are accusing the guy of "racial intent" for bring them to the game. 

Who brings tortillas to a game? You can't do that and then proclaim your innocence. 

@Daddy_Freddie

 And my premise is that while it might not be racist, in truth it's probably not, it's still in poor taste. The racial element isn't what makes it distasteful and bad sportsmanship, it's bringing anything to throw at a high school game to begin with. And while there may not have been racial intent, as the old saying goes, sometimes you have to read the room. Luke Serna went to the school. He's from the area. There's no way he didn't know their opponents would be predominantly hispanic. He picked that game, of all games, to attempt starting a new tradition? It's not like they had been doing this for years.

I don't want to get to far into the weeds though because as I said, my point has nothing to do with race. It has to do with common decency. As far as the coach, he didn't have anything to do with the tortillas but he went over to a bench full of kids and cursed them out, causing an altercation. These are the people charged with teaching our young men to be men? No wonder society is messed up.

He should be fired for being an abject moron 

We only know what we are told and unforunately every writer/news outlet seems to have a narrative. Looks to be a stupid thought gone bad when the timing was all wrong. Bad blood at the end of the game blew this up. 

The University of Penn throws toast and bagels. John Brown University throws toilet paper. Hmmm, John Brown toilet paper.....sounds nasty. You see silly chit all the time.

If the coach was fired it should be for HIS actions at the end of the game, not because some numskull thought he's starting a new tradition.

@UNIMAN

 Exactly. I don't think the coach was fired because of tortillas. I think he as fired for harassing children and starting a melee.

I am sure he will fair well with the departure 

High school sports coach... if that is the apex of ines achievements obviously lives as meaning less  a life as any cop.....