The outcry – and the precipitation – was quick.
An Oklahoma sports announcer was captured during a live broadcast addressing racial slurs and profanity against members of a high school women’s basketball team who were kneeling during the national anthem.
The racist comments came shortly after Norman High basketball players kneeled during the national anthem before a quarterfinal state 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 without realizing that his microphone was audible in the live broadcast. “Are they going to kneel like that? Of course not.”
“F —— n ——“, says the speaker later, at the end of the hymn.
Footage that captured the comments during the game’s online broadcast on the NFHS Network was shared on Twitter early Friday morning.
The outcry – and the rush – were immediate.
“We condemn and will not tolerate the disgusting words and attitudes of these announcers,” 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 at any human being, especially 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 announce the state tournament on the NFHS Network. The association said the team will not play a game until the end of the championship.
“This type of behavior will never be tolerated by anyone representing the NFHS or OSSAA,” said OSSAA Executive Director David Jackson in a statement. “The state tournament qualifiers are a special time for our schools, their students and their communities, and anything that is counterproductive to education-based activities will be dealt with immediately and appropriately.”
The NFHS Network, which also severed relations with the production team, apologized for the comments.
“The thoughts expressed in no way represent our network and we are outraged that they found their way into production,” the network said in a statement. “The NFHS Network strongly condemns racism, hatred and discrimination. We also apologize to students, their families and the whole community for having such ignorant and offensive comments expressed during the broadcast.”
As news of the comments spread on Friday, others in the Oklahoma community responded. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister called them “sick and vile” and Mayor Norman Breea Clark said she was “livid and absolutely disgusted”.
“These young athletes were simply expressing themselves as hundreds of professional athletes across the country did, and no one, least of all a child, deserves to experience this type of racist and toxic behavior,” said Clark, who announced plans to maintain a city hall with Norman youth “so that we can learn how this incident impacted them and hear directly from our children how we can improve our community going forward.”
The mayor asked OSSAA to end his contract with the NFHS Network.
The announcer issued a statement to several local news outlets, including The Norman Transcript and The Frontier, apologizing for his racist comments – which he blamed for being a type 1 diabetic and for “raising” blood sugar levels.
ABC News contacted the announcer for comment.
Norman defeated Midwest City 53-40 on Thursday. During Friday’s semifinals against Tulsa Union in Sapulpa, the two teams knelt, The Oklahoman reported. Norman advanced to the final with a victory on Friday.