A California high school has forfeited their remaining football season over a mock “slave auction” video.
River Valley High School didn’t play in their varsity football game on Friday after school administrators became aware of a recording showing some of the teammates performing what appeared to be a mock slave auction on their Black peers. According to KCRA-TV the video showed about a dozen students pointing and yelling dollar amounts at three of their Black classmates who were in their underwear and lined up against the wall. Yeah, what the f**k…
Related: Police Have ‘Located A Person Of Interest’ In Murders Of 5 California Men
It’s unclear when the video was recorded, but it’s been confirmed staff at the school discovered it on Thursday ahead of the next day’s game. Immediately, the Yuba City Unified School District took action. Superintendent Doreen Osumi said in an email on Friday the players who participated in the video were kicked off of the team. No numbers were given as to how many players were disciplined — but apparently it was so many the school was forced to forfeit the rest of the season for lack of players after the offending ones were kicked off. Just unbelievable.
Osumi said in her statement the video appeared to be “organized” — the students had planned this out ahead of time. She believes they did this as a “prank” and didn’t realize how “disgraceful” it was:
“I received a copy of a recording of River Valley High School football team members acting out a reprehensible act of a slave auction. The recording clearly demonstrates that this situation was orchestrated and organized, which underscores my concern that students spent time contemplating this terrible act without the slightest regard that this action is hateful and hurtful.”
Just terrible! Why would anyone want to reenact such an awful part of history? It’s disturbing anyone would think something like this is funny…
She also said the school has “a great deal of work to do” when it comes to not only disciplining — but educating — the students:
“Reenacting a slave sale as a prank tells us that we have a great deal of work to do with our students so they can distinguish between intent and impact. They may have thought this skit was funny, but it is not; it is unacceptable and requires us to look honestly and deeply at issues of systemic racism.”
The team had four games left of their varsity season and all will be forfeited, according to Doreen. And next year, the team will be allowed to return to the field if all goes as planned.
The superintendent says the staff is working on special lessons to help the pupils see the error in their ways so they can grow from this situation. She says she sees this as a learning opportunity:
“When students find humor in something that is so deeply offensive, it tells me that we have an opportunity to help them expand their mindset.”
What an awful thing to do, hopefully these kids realize how much of an impact their words and actions can make. Let us know your thoughts on this situation in the comments (below).
