Students at Central Catholic HS in Portland stage walkout over baseball team racial chant
Dozens of students at Central Catholic High School, a private school in Southeast Portland, staged a walkout Friday morning, demanding accountability following a racial chant controversy involving the varsity baseball team.
On Monday, school spokesperson Jeanie-Marie Price confirmed a racial slur was used by a baseball player during a cheer before a game last week.
While the school did not specify the hate speech that was used, during Friday’s walkout—organized by the school’s Black Student Union—student leaders alleged that the chant included the “N-word.”
“The baseball team used a chant that was a call to action. It was not a word; it was not a microaggression—it was ‘let’s get those hard r’s,’” said senior Kaela Woodard.
According to Woodard, students learned the chant has been part of a team tradition for years.
Students also claim one player was pressured to participate as part of hazing, while coaches stood by.
Parents and community members supported students as they walked out.
BSU members say they have met with the school’s principal and expressed disappointment that the involved students have remained in class.
“It seems like, in situations like this, the school is actually protecting those who are committing these offenses,” said senior Chris Daugherty.
“Admin here keeps saying that their hands are tied, so we’re trying to take the next step to create change this school year,” Woodard added.
Students plan to take their concerns to the Archdiocese of Portland and hope to schedule a meeting with the board.
They are calling for varsity baseball players to be removed from the team, junior varsity players to take their place, mandatory anti-racism and anti-hazing training for coaches, and revisions to the student handbook.
https://www.kptv.com/2026/04/25/students...ial-chant/
Dozens of students at Central Catholic High School, a private school in Southeast Portland, staged a walkout Friday morning, demanding accountability following a racial chant controversy involving the varsity baseball team.
On Monday, school spokesperson Jeanie-Marie Price confirmed a racial slur was used by a baseball player during a cheer before a game last week.
While the school did not specify the hate speech that was used, during Friday’s walkout—organized by the school’s Black Student Union—student leaders alleged that the chant included the “N-word.”
“The baseball team used a chant that was a call to action. It was not a word; it was not a microaggression—it was ‘let’s get those hard r’s,’” said senior Kaela Woodard.
According to Woodard, students learned the chant has been part of a team tradition for years.
Students also claim one player was pressured to participate as part of hazing, while coaches stood by.
Parents and community members supported students as they walked out.
BSU members say they have met with the school’s principal and expressed disappointment that the involved students have remained in class.
“It seems like, in situations like this, the school is actually protecting those who are committing these offenses,” said senior Chris Daugherty.
“Admin here keeps saying that their hands are tied, so we’re trying to take the next step to create change this school year,” Woodard added.
Students plan to take their concerns to the Archdiocese of Portland and hope to schedule a meeting with the board.
They are calling for varsity baseball players to be removed from the team, junior varsity players to take their place, mandatory anti-racism and anti-hazing training for coaches, and revisions to the student handbook.
https://www.kptv.com/2026/04/25/students...ial-chant/
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"
