Naser Husein -- who charges that he was dismissed as Selma High's wrestling coach because of his Arab ancestry -- says Selma Unified officials ruined his life. He believes he is a victim of racism at a time when racial barriers in the nation are dissolving. "If Barack Hussein Obama can be the president of the United States, then why can't Naser Nayef Husein be a teacher and a coach in Selma Unified, where I was born?" Husein said last week. He filed a lawsuit in October 2008 over the dismissal, and a court trial might be more than a year in the future. Husein said he's speaking out now -- more than a year after he was booted from his coaching job -- because the public has been "brainwashed" by the school district. Selma Unified maintains that Husein is not a victim of discrimination and that it had justifiable reasons for not renewing his coaching contract. The reasons include "combative, abusive and confrontational" behavior and "bouts of profanity" by Husein at wrestling invitational meets in Clovis Unified School District, court papers state.

Husein denies that he cursed at meets.

Meanwhile, four men have come forward to tell The Enterprise of hearing two Selma Unified employees make disparaging remarks about Husein's ethnicity. Whether their statements would hold up under cross examination in court remains to be seen, said Fresno attorney Mic Marderosian, an experienced civil attorney in Fresno not associated with the Husein case. The Enterprise contacted him to comment on the four pro-Husein witnesses coming forward.

The four men have not spoken publicly before; three of them were assistant coaches under Husein. Some of what they allegedly heard has been made public before in court documents; some has not, including an alleged statement that Husein "can't speak a lick of English."

He speaks English, Spanish and Arabic, according to his lawsuit.

The four men's credibility could be tested if the case goes to trial, said Marderosian: "A public statement is one thing. Being subjected to cross examination is another thing."

The school district's attorney could cross examine the men to see, for example, whether their statements were "clouded" by personal bias resulting from friendship with Husein, Marderosian said.

Husein, who still lives in Selma but now teaches in Fresno, said he doesn't want his coaching job back as long as Superintendent Mark Sutton and Selma High Athletic Director Randy Esraelian remain in the district. "Those two guys don't belong in education. They made my life miserable, and it's hurtful," Husein said.

However, he concedes, neither Esraelian nor Sutton -- or anyone else in Selma Unified -- made disparaging comments about his Middle Eastern ancestry to him. He said comments were made behind his back.

Both Sutton and Esraelian declined to comment because of the pending lawsuit. However, Esraelian was quoted last year after Husein's coaching contract wasn't renewed. Esraelian said at that time: "I have nothing bad to say about Naser. I think he has done a great job. But the program is looking for a person on campus that can regulate student athletes and keep the program at a high level."

Husein was not a teacher at the high school while he coached the wrestling team, but he loved the school and its athletes, he said. And now, he wants Selma Unified officials "to feel my pain," he said. "I have feelings. I have emotions. They need to know they can't ruin someone's life like that."

His lawsuit -- which names the school district, the high school, Esraelian and Selma High athletic trainer Kenny Ortiz as defendants -- seeks an unspecified amount of money. Ortiz also declined to comment for this story.

Husein, 36, was born in the United States to parents who came from Palestine in 1972. He is an American citizen and graduated from Selma High in 1992. He was a paid assistant wrestling coach at the high school from 1996 to 2001, and took over as head coach in 2001.

On Jan. 1, 2005, the state issued Husein a multiple subject teaching credential with emphasis on cross-cultural, language and academic development. He applied repeatedly for teaching jobs in Selma Unified after he received his credential, his lawsuit says.

Selma Unified maintains that Hussein applied for an elementary school position, but was "bested" by other applicants for valid reasons, according to a court document.

After getting his credential, Husein said, he worked for the district in two other positions: Special education substitute teacher at Indianola school and English teacher to immigrants at the Selma Adult School. Selma Unified ended his contract at Indianola after the 2005-06 school year and his contract at the adult school after the 2006-07 school year, Husein said. Selma Unified did not respond to an e-mail from The Enterprise seeking confirmation of this information.

Husein continued coaching at Selma High in the 2007-08 school year, but he learned in June 2008 that his contract as wrestling coach for the next year would not be renewed and that Selma Unified had hired Southern California teacher and coach Sam Lopez as his replacement. Lopez also was hired to teach special education at the high school.

Selma Unified says that coaching jobs are first "made available" to teachers "presently employed" by the school district and that "others were entitled to preference for the head wrestling coach position" ahead of Husein, according to a court document.

Lopez replaced Husein several months after Husein guided Selma to its second straight Division 2 Valley Championship. Then in Lopez's first year, Selma tied Buchanan High in Clovis for second in the state wrestling meet -- Selma's highest finish ever.

Said Husein: "I handed that team to Sam Lopez. All I wanted was a job here. It's hurtful that they would bring someone from Los Angeles and they don't even know him and give him a teaching job and my position and treat him like he's God and treat me like I'm nobody."

Meanwhile, the four men who have come forward to support Husein's case include Brian Ramirez, a former paid assistant wrestling coach who worked for Husein from 2004 to 2008. He lives in Fresno and works for Staples, the office supply company.

Ramirez, 38, said he had a conversation with athletic director Esraelian in 2007 about Husein's chances of getting a teaching job in the district. Esraelian said "the district will never hire him. He can't speak a lick of English and he's Iraqi and that's not good right now," according to Ramirez.

On another occasion in the 2007-08 school year, Ramirez said, he heard athletic trainer Ortiz refer to Husein as "a terrorist" and as a "camel jockey coach."

Another former assistant wrestling coach, Ismael Quintana, said he heard Ortiz and Esraelian also make disparaging remarks about Husein.

Quintana, 38, graduated from Selma High in 1990, and works as a plumber, pipe fitter and welder. He lives in Reedley and was a paid assistant wrestling coach in Selma from 2005 to 2008.

Quintana said Ortiz became agitated in 2007 about Husein having wrestlers undergo a pre-competition physical test and that Ortiz launched into a profanity-filled tirade that included a reference to Husein as "a dirty Iraqi terrorist."

On another occasion, Quintana said he heard Esraelian call Husein "a crazy Arab" for challenging wrestling powerhouse Clovis High to a dual meet with Selma to settle a disputed tournament title. Esraelian laughed when he made the comment, but it was still wrong, Quintana said.

A third former assistant wrestling coach, Jamie Vargas, said he heard Ortiz tell a Selma High wrestler in 2006 that Husein was a "dirty Iraqi." The wrestler started laughing, but "whether it was a joke or not, it was something he shouldn't say," Vargas said. "Naser is not Iraqi and it's pretty racist to say something like that."

Vargas, 23, was on Husein's wrestling teams before graduating from Selma High in 2003. He earned a bachelor's degree and master's degree in physics from California State University, Fresno. Vargas was a volunteer and paid assistant coach for Husein.

A fourth man, Tony Delgado of Stockton, also came forward last week to support Husein. Delgado, a 1995 Selma High graduate and now a state employee, said he was sitting on bleachers behind Esraelian and Selma resident Archie Tovar in January 2008 during a wrestling match in the high school gym.

Delgado said he overheard Esraelian tell Tovar that replacing Husein was proving difficult because "he's doing good," but that Husein would be gone by the end of the year because superintendent Sutton didn't like Husein because "of his kind."

Said Delgado: "I'm thinking he's meaning [Husein's] Palestinian race."

A man who answered the phone at Tovar's home said he was a friend but declined to identify himself; he said Tovar didn't want to talk to The Enterprise.

Selma Unified's attorney, John Rozier of Visalia, declined to comment on what Delgado and the three other men said in support of Husein's case. However, Rozier added, "We're quite confident as a district that there was no racial motivation in the change of the head coaching position, and investigation and discovery is continuing, including the deposition of key witnesses." A deposition is witness testimony given under oath and recorded for use in court at a later date.

Clovis High wrestling coach Steve Tirapelle recently gave a deposition in the case. He declined to speak with The Enterprise, but in his deposition he was asked whether he had witnessed Husein engage in unprofessional behavior.

"Just conversations at mat-side, you know, maybe making comments," Tirapelle said. "And I would say his was on the minimal end. It was more his assistant. ... I'd say about 80 percent of it was the assistant yelling at other kids during matches when there's a time out or something and they are talking to the other kid, which shouldn't take place."

Husein's attorney then asked Tirapelle: "But you didn't see Mr. Husein doing that sort of thing."

Tirapelle answered: "Minimal. Minimal."