A local mother is accusing a Wallaceburg basketball club of failing to provide her son with a safe space free from racial discrimination.
Michelle Lewis recently pulled her 11-year-old son, Jeremiah, off of a Wallaceburg Airhawks basketball team after he was allegedly subjected to racist remarks by fellow teammates on two separate occasions.
She said a player addressed her son with a racial slur during a game on December 6, 2025, while another player used several racial stereotypes, such as “watermelon” and “fried chicken-eating,” during a practice on December 18, 2025.
Jeremiah was the only player of colour and visible minority on the team.
“Between school and basketball, it’s been a lot being a person of colour in Wallaceburg,” she said. “There are kids that clearly can’t get past the colour of my kid’s skin.”
Following a meeting with the coach, Lewis acknowledged that the first incident resulted in agreed-upon disciplinary consequences for the other player. However, she said the Airhawks’ board failed to go over the team’s code of conduct with the players at the beginning of the season, and the teammate responsible for the second incident was welcomed back after a brief suspension.
“The first one was handled… it was a great learning experience for that player. My son was ok. It’s just not even two weeks later, we’re back with the same thing,” she said. “Kids do dumb things all the time, and our job is to guide and mould them and teach them. When we, at the top, let things slide, that’s where my problem is.”
Lewis said she felt the culture of the team had become unsafe, so she removed her son to protect his well-being. She said that when racial discrimination persists across different members of the team roster, the organization has failed in its fundamental duty to provide a safe space for minorities.
“What you’ve done is you’ve told all of those other eight boys or nine boys in there that you can do this to him, or anyone, and you can still keep your position on the court, and you don’t have any consequences,” said Lewis. “I never wanted the [second] boy removed from the team… but consequences are very important.”
Lewis said it was important for her to speak out to ensure other children aren’t subjected to the same behaviour or worse.
In an email response to CKXS News, Airhawks Board President John LaBlance said the basketball club takes “this allegation very seriously.”
“At this point, I will refrain my [sic] any and all further comments as this has been escalated into a legal matter,” he said.
Lewis said she is unaware of any ongoing legal proceedings involving the Airhawks.
