Black students involved in 'ridiculous' flap over Fte nationale parade stand by their coach

Student athleteswho pushed floats in last month's Ftenationaleparade are standing by thecoach who arranged to have them participate in the event, callingthe controversy over their role"ridiculous."

SterveLubin, a coach at coleLouis-Joseph-Papineauin the Montreal borough ofVilleraySaint-MichelParc-Extension,had accepted an offer from parade organizersto have his athletes push floats in the June 24 parade in exchange for a donation to their school's athletics department.

But as images of the black teens in tan garb pushing a float carrying only white people spread online, Lubin and parade organizers found themselvesvilified.

Lubintried to resign from his coaching job in the aftermath.

• Video of Quebec history float goes viral amid allegations of racism

DalinaRivera, who ison the football team but was not pushing the float in question, said she was happy to raise money for equipment and uniforms and foundthe controversy "ridiculous."

RAW: Quebec history float draws criticism

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RAW: Quebec history float draws criticism

"At the end of the parade we were all happy. [Then] we saw the video and controversy," she said.

Another student who is on the school's football team but was not pushing the float at the centre of the controversy, Jefferson Suarez, saidhe, too, saw no problem with the volunteer effort, which will help the teams.

"The school wants to develop sports but is restricted in its financing," said JeffersonSuarez.

"There aren't people who are going to finance us when it comes to buying shoes, clothes."

Suarezsaid it's true, however, thatorganizers could have included people from a greater diversity of ethnic backgrounds in a variety of roles in the paradeto avoid the appearance of racism.

"They could have put all [kinds of] people pushing the floatsand put more diversity in the group of people walking in white [around the floats]," he said.

Coach tried to mitigate controversy

Lubin said the impression people got from the parade hurt the students involved.

"They didn't understand the negative, they were having fun," the coach said.

He anticipated parents from the school would be furious and expected they would demand he be fired for his role in the controversy.

He said he handed in his resignation because he didn't want the students to be negatively affected any further. The school, however, would not accept it, he said.

• Your actual place in society': MinorityMontrealersstung by racial divide atFtenationaleparade

Coach, students, organizers come together

The video has been viewed more than two million times on Facebook in the two weeks since it was posted.

The debate it sparked about institutional racism in Quebec reached beyond the provinceand even the country, as news outlets around the world picked up the story.

The coach and students met at the community centre for Montreal's Haitian community, Maisond'Hati, on Saturday to discuss what happened.

The centre's director, Marjorie Villefranche, said she thought it was important to show support for the teenagers.

"It's necessary to hug them a little bit and show them that we are with them," Villefranche said.

The head of the organizing committeefor the Montreal Ftenationale celebration,MaximeLaporte, was invited to attend the community event.

Laporte said afterward that he was there to support the teenagers and reiteratehow sorry the organizing committee is for the image that so many people have seen and shared.

"Quebec includes people of all origins, and that's what we want to say on the national day, and we're terribly sorry about what happened," Laporte said.

In the end, the students who attended Saturday's eventsaidthey hope everyone can learn from the experience.

"Now it's time to move on," Rivera said.

• Montreal'sFtenationalecommittee explains, apologizes for racism controversy