Paterson superintendent wants apology after racist social media post

<p>The Paterson Schools superintendent is calling for a public apology from the Clifton School District after one of the Clifton High School football players made a racist post on social media about the Paterson players.</p>

News 12 Staff

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Sep 19, 2018, 12:44 AM

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Updated 2,290 days ago

The Paterson Schools superintendent is calling for a public apology from the Clifton School District after one of the Clifton High School football players made a racist post on social media about the Paterson players.

Superintendent Eileen Shafer says that she was stunned to see a social media post using the “N-word” ahead of the Kennedy-Clifton high school football game Friday night.

“I just couldn’t believe somebody would post that,” she says.

Shafer postponed the game until Saturday and says that she did not publicly discuss the post until after the game to keep tensions down.

Clifton School Superintendent Richard Tardalo told the Bergen Record that the student who used the racial slur was suspended from the game, adding, “It’s over. Why stir this stuff up?”

But Shafer says that she wants more to be done.

“I’m not stirring anything up. I want it addressed and I want it to never happen again,” she says.

Shafer says that after the post was discovered online her own players released a video taunting the Clifton players with foul language. She say that those players were benched from the game.

She also says that because it took Tardalo so may days to respond she now wants to see sanctions taken out against the district and a public apology.

Shafer reported the incident to the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association to be investigated.

“I think the superintendent needs to get with his coaches and with his players and come up with how he would apologize to our team, to our coaches and to our community,” she says.

The Clifton superintendent did not respond to calls made by News 12 New Jersey for comment.