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The outcry – and the fallout – was swift.
An Oklahoma sports announcer was captured during a livestream broadcasting racial slurs and swearing at members of a girls’ high school basketball team who were on their knees during the national anthem.
The racist comments came shortly after the Norman High basketball players knelt while playing the national anthem ahead of a quarterfinal tournament game against Midwest City at Sapulpa High School in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
“F — them, I hope they lose,” one of the announcers can be heard saying, apparently not realizing that his microphone was audible during the live broadcast. “Are they going to kneel down like that? Hell no.”
“F —— n ——,” the announcer later said near the end of the hymn.
Images capturing the comments during the game’s online broadcast on the NFHS network were shared on Twitter on Friday morning.
The outcry – and the fallout – was immediate.
“We condemn and will not tolerate the disgusting words and attitudes of these advertisers,” Norman Superintendent Nick Migliorino said in a statement. “This type of hate speech has no place in our society and we are outraged that it is directed against any human being, and in particular against our students.”
Migliorino said the school will no longer use the NFHS network to broadcast the tournament.
The Oklahoma High School Activities Association hired the broadcast team to advertise the state tournament on the NFHS network. The association said the crew will not play any matches for the remainder of their championships.
“This type of behavior will never be tolerated by anyone representing the NFHS or OSSAA,” OSSAA Executive Director David Jackson said in a statement. “The state tournament playoffs are a special time for our schools, their students and their communities, and anything that is counterproductive to educational activities will be addressed immediately and appropriately.”
The NFHS network, which also cut ties with the production team, apologized for the remarks.
“The thoughts expressed do not in any way represent our network, and we are outraged that they have found their way into production,” the network said in a statement. “The NFHS network strongly condemns racism, hatred and discrimination. We also deeply apologize to the students, their families and the entire community for making such ignorant and hurtful comments on the show.”
As word of the comments spread on Friday, other members of the Oklahoma community responded. State Superintendent of Education Joy Hofmeister called them “disgusting and vile”, and Norman Mayor Breea Clark said she was “livid and absolutely disgusted”.
“These young athletes were speaking just like hundreds of professional athletes across the country have done, and no one, let alone a child, deserves to endure this kind of racist and toxic behavior,” said Clark, who announced his intention to hold a city. with the young people of Norman “so that we can learn how this incident affected them and hear directly from our children how we can improve our community in the future.”
The mayor called on OSSAA to end its contract with the NFHS network.
The announcer released a statement to several local media outlets, including The Norman Transcript and The Frontier, apologizing for his racist remarks – which he blamed on type 1 diabetes and a “spike” in blood sugar.
ABC News has contacted the advertiser for comment.
Norman then beat Midwest City, 53-40, on Thursday. In Friday’s semi-finals against Tulsa Union in Sapulpa, both teams knelt down, The Oklahoman reported. Norman qualified for the final with a victory on Friday.
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