Announcer for high school basketball game uses racial slurs after team kneels during anthem

An announcer of an Oklahoma high school girls’ basketball game was caught on the show, calling the girls on one of the teams a racial insult as they kneeled during the anthem national.

In a video shared on Twitter, it doesn’t appear that advertisers realize their mic is working. As the students from the Normandy high school knelt, one of them asked “Are they on their knees?”

“Hopefully Norman gets a kick out of it,” one announcer continued. “F —— n ——.”

Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliorino said in a statement that the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) network advertisers have been hired by the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) for the tournament game. ‘State vs. Midwest City High School.

An NFHS statement, sent to NBC News by OSSAA’s director of sports information, said the network was “sickened by the comments.”

“The thoughts expressed do not represent the NFHS network in any way and we are outraged that they have found their way into our production,” the statement said. “The NFHS network strongly condemns racism, hatred and discrimination, and there is no place for it in high school sports or elsewhere.”

NFHS apologized to the students and their families, adding that the incident was under investigation and advertisers “would have no relationship with the NFHS network in the future.”

Migliorino’s statement said district officials “condemn and will not tolerate the disgusting words and attitudes of these advertisers.”

“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,” said Migliorino. “We fully support our students’ right to free speech and our immediate goal is to support these girls, their coaches and their families, especially our Black students and coaching staff.

He said Norman Public Schools would no longer use the NFHS network but instead SportsTalk Media, “as we have full confidence in their proven ability to respectfully support our student athletes.”

Midwest City High School District Superintendent Rick Cobb said he hopes OSSAA will not be using NFHS for the remainder of the tournament and “will review any future contracts they have for the broadcast of activities. schools in our state “.

“Language like this is an affront to the lessons we try to teach our students and the kind of world we all want to live in,” said Cobb, the Superintendent of the Mid-Del School District.