We wouldn’t expect a high school basketball game in Newkirk to make national news, but that’s what happened when a volunteer announcer called the opposing team’s player names “disgusting.”
A video has been viewed thousands of times and made it all the way to The Washington Post and ABC News.
“The Crooked Oak Lady Ruff Necks, now their names are pretty disgusting,” the still-unidentified announcer is heard saying in the video while someone in the crowd says, “What? ... No, he didn’t just say that,” as Crooked Oak players looked on in shock.
The announcer was removed during the game by the Newkirk school district, and the superintendent issued an apology to the Crooked Oak players and parents.
“I was just tying to make sure my teammates were OK,” one of the players told KFOR. “Because I knew, I could tell they were affected by how that was said.”
“I was actually kind of scared on the court,” another player told the station.
The school district has not said whether the announcer will keep his position, keeping it behind the veil of “personnel matter.”
KFOR spoke to the players, but they also spoke with members of Newkirk defending the announcer. They said the announcer is in 80s and dealing with health issues and that he simply said “disgusting” when he meant to say “difficult.” Either way, it’s an insensitive thing to say.
“He never said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry. I meant difficult. My apologizes,” a parent told KFOR.
The superintendent issued an apology, but that hasn’t made its way to the players or parents.
“The girls should have been given a public apology, the same way they were demeaned publically,” the parent told KFOR.
It shows the lengths many white people will go to “prove” they aren’t racist rather than appropriately apologize.
