[MCFan]

These are the response to the questions given to Coach Allen.

I sent this response to the person that has been emailing me and keeping me abreast of the unscrupulous and unethical behavior, I hope this puts an end to the talk and misleading information that has been posted on this site and others. First, let me say that it was a pleasure to coach Ta'Kenya Nixon, Joslyn Edwards, Angelique Moore, Jazzmine Ellis, and Ashleigh Ellenwood. The heart and desire that these five young women displayed the entire season helped me make in through the season. I can only hope that others would try to emulate their behavior both on and off the court.

The answers to the questions:

How do you feel you were treated by the administration and staff of MCHS? I feel I was treated unfairly by the principal and superintendent. To hold a meeting and decide that I was no going to be retained in February was a true indication that they never really wanted to hire me. And, the lack of support in dealing with unruly, disrespectful, and ignorant parents and family members was more than disappointing, it appeared to me to be a calculated effort to cause the team to fail. I believe that it was true what I heard, that I wasn't supposed to be successful and then it would not have been hard to get rid of me as the coach. My biggest problem was that I sucked at losing basketball games. So the principal had to find another way to get rid of me for failing to fail. After a 21-4 season I would have thought that the principal and superintendent would have at least congratulated the team for a job well done, maybe a letter in the newspaper or something, it must have been too hard for them to spell simple words like "Good Job."


What were the biggest obstacles you faced at MCHS? The biggest obstacle I faced was the administration, parents, and a few players who didn't know how to say, spell, or be part of a team. The players and parents were only concerned about playing time and individual awards, they demonstrated that they only had the ability to be less than honest, lazy, jealous of harder working players, and contrary to the concept of team and discipline. The administration took a pass on reeling in out of control parents and family members. Parents and family members who talked about the players and coaching staff every chance they got. I was told to ignore them, which I did but nothing change. I had studnets in class using terms such as jig-a-boo, craker, and nigger.


Can you describe any instances where you felt that you were treated unfairly?
1. I hired a coach who was the daughter of the Chesterton coach, she took another job and didn't even think she should call me and let me know, I found out from a player.
2. I was trying to hire a counselor as my assistant, I called and left a few messages. When the AD finally got hold of her she told him that she couldn't take the job because she had to go home and take care of her dog. But, that didn't stop her from coaching softball or becoming the new assistant basketball coach for next year.
3. The volleyball coach accused me of inappropriate contact with one of the volleyball players during their season. Because, the player texted me about something and I responded. I understood her point and I told her that I would not respond to anymore text messages from the player. However, the only way that she knew that I responded to the text massage was becasue she picked up the players phone and went through her text massages. THAT WAS INAPPROPRIATE AND A VIOLATION OF THE PLAYERS PRIVACY!
4. The former freshman girls basketball coach from the 2007-08 season, went to a number of parents and asked them not to let the daughters go out for basketball. It was wrong and when the parents told me about it I was upset. I was even more upset to find out that he only went to the white parents. Not only is that unfair to the players and the coaches, but it had a very strong hint of racism as well.
5. The boy basketball coach and the football coach were offered administrative positions when they were hired. I had more qualifications and I wasn't offered an administrative position. I was told that that was a violation of Title 9 and it was discrimination. And that I should sue the MCAS.
6. The grandparent of the laziest player on the team referred to me as a dumb SOB at the S.B. Washington, and I don't disagree with his right to say that. I disagree with him saying in front of my mother, uncle, and aunt. What I disagree with, is when I pointed out to him that he had crossed the line, he told me my mother was lying.
7. One parent who just happens to be a pastor(?) felt that it was just fine to sit with the S.B. Washington fans. I don't know what happened in MC but that would have never been acceptable back in the glory days of MC basketball. My mother, uncle, and aunt all graduated from S.B. Washington but on those games they didn't wear green and they sat with the MC fans, that is loyalty. This is the same parent that got into a knock-down drag-out fight with his daughter in the streets, and the police were called.
8. There were a few people who felt that they had enough knowledge and the right to write letters to the Anvil Chorus about the inner workings of the basketball team. Let me put their uneducated and dim-witted comments to rest with a few undisputable facts. One senior and one junior player on the team were totally disliked by their teammates because of their attitude, lack of work ethic, and because their teammates felt that the only people that thought they were good players was their family and themselves. One senior player got into no less than ten arguments with her teammates because of her mouth and her inability to follow directions. One player and her mother had five meetings with the coaching staff to discuss playing time, after we had clearly said that we would not talk about playing time. I must point out she didn't deserve the playing time because she couldn't handle the ball, couldn't make easy shots, she got pushed around by smaller players, and her teammates were afraid when she was in the game. One parent felt it was a good idea to say derogatory things about an all-state player during a game, the only problem with his plan was that the player heard the comments and came to the bench during the game and asked me to go talk with and ask him to stop. I had to call the mother of one player when the team was preparing for regional's and ask her to come in and talk with her daughter about practicing hard, first time I had ever done that in 15 years of coaching. The players thought it was funny how she was always hurting and couldn't practice hard, but she was always ready on game day. One player got pregnant during the season and decided to terminate the pregnancy, without telling her father. She played like crap for most of the season, he blamed me. A couple of players on the team that were jealous of Joslyn Edwards and the impact that she was making decided that it was their job to go to her and tell her she was shooting too much, didn't matter to them that the coach was telling her shoot. As soon as they made that decision, her productivity dropped. One player got jealous when Michigan State started looking at GG Moore, so she decided to start telling people that University Michigan was looking at her, which was a lie. One parent came in after the season to complain that I didn't do enough to help his daughter gain all-state honors, this was after I nominated her when I didn't think that she deserved the nomination. One person wrote on a site that I had held over nine jobs during my 15 years in the education field. In my 15 years I've taught, coached, or held administrative positions at five different high schools. The positions that I have held are:

Director of Student Services/Dean of Students
Assistant Athletic Director
Social Studies Department Chairperson
Social Studies Teacher
Head Varsity Girl’s Basketball Coach
Associate Head Girl’s Basketball Coach
Head Varsity Girl’s Volleyball Coach
Head Varsity Girl’s Softball Coach
Assistant Boy’s Baseball Coach
Assistant Girl’s Basketball Coach
Freshman Boy’s Basketball Coach

That will change to six when I start my new position as Dean of Students at a public H.S. in Illinois.

What kind of support were you given as a first year teacher? None they were only concerned about not having parents complain. If they felt I was such a bad teacher they didn't have a plan to help me.
What was the reason you were given for non-renewal? Classroom management and not meeting the academic standards set by MCAS. When I asked the principal to be more specific he said he wasn't prepared to talk about the reason, then he told I knew why. Although on my 12/16/09 review it was stated that I had good classroom management and that my lessons were designed to engage students and to make them use their critical thinking skills.

In closing I would just like to say that MC is going to continue to have race problems because of incidents like this. The despicable, appalling, contemptible, shameful, and vile treatment of minorities in MC by blacks and whites is the reason I left in 1994. I was approached by a prominent member of the MC community about coming back to MC and making a difference. What I found was that the same prejudices still exist and that the African American community still condones the mistreatment of other African Americans. When I left MC I felt that a lot of African Americans in MC were being crapped on and that they thought it was raining. Well a lot of African Americans in MC are still being crapped on by the school administration and the community and they still think it was raining.

Please don't respond to my comments just read them and move on I have. Thank you MCHS administration and the parents and family members of unhappy players for showing me how not to treat people.