A high school basketball announcer has been pulled from his job after using the n-word when referring to players who knelt during the national anthem.
The announcer was caught on a hot mic slamming the players after a Thursday night game when every player for the Norman High School girls basketball team decided to take a knee during their game against Midwest City during the Oklahoma 6A state basketball tournament, TMZ reported.
Right after the girls protested during the national anthem, an announcer on the National Federation of State High School Association Network’s official live stream went off on the girls.
“They’re kneeling? F***ing n*****s. I hope Norman gets their ass kicked. F*** them. I hope they lose. They’re gonna kneel like that?” the announcer is heard saying.
Norman superintendent Dr. Nick Migliorino called the remarks “racist and hateful” in a statement, adding, “We condemn and will not tolerate the disgusting words and attitudes of these announcers.”
“This type of hate speech has no place in our society and we are outraged that it would be directed at any human being, and particularly at our students,” he said.
“We fully support our students’ right to freedom of expression and our immediate focus is to support these girls and their coaches and families, particularly our Black students and coaching staff,” Migliorino continued.
“It is tragic that the hard work and skill of this team is being overshadowed by the vile, malignant words of these individuals. We will do everything in our power to support and uplift our team and everyone affected by this incident,” Migliorino said.
He concluded by saying, the school has “full confidence in their proven ability to respectfully support our student-athletes.”
The NFHS Network quickly investigated and pulled the broadcast crew from the remainder of the tournament.
“We sincerely apologize to the students, their families, and the entire community for having such ignorant comments expressed during the broadcast,” the NFHS said in a statement.
NFL stars Kenny Stills and Gerald McCoy both heard of the incident and spoke out against the incident.
Stills retweeted about the incident, meanwhile, McCoy noted that the incident proved that the protests are not about the flag.
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