A high school in Virginia has canceled a football game that was set to take place tonight after videos surfaced of students aggressively using racial slurs.
Representatives from Poquoson High School confirmed the decision had been made to forfeit a game against York High School after footage emerged on social media showing a group of teens, including members of the football team, shouting the n-word multiple times.
In two clips seen by Newsweek, roughly a dozen people can be seen standing around a table with a slew of drink cups on it. Some of the teenagers were dancing and posing. The videos were recorded at a party last week that was not on school grounds, WVEC reported.
“Fuck n******, what are you gonna do about it?” a student is heard saying in one clip, which was originally posted to Snapchat before spreading to Facebook and Twitter. A caption read: “This s*** funny to me.” In a second video, a teenager is heard making violent threats to attack another person while using racial slurs. The students’ identities have not been released.
A member of the Poquoson football team, Karon Smith, told WAVY the videos had been filmed in response to a student at a separate school who had also used a racial slur. Local media outlet WTKR noted it appeared there was a feud between students from at least two schools.
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“While we know some will be disappointed… we also have a responsibility to help our students understand that behavior has consequences,” Parish added. “We will continue to take a strong and unified stance against racist behavior and language. Our schools welcome and serve all students, and we stand firm in our effort to maintain safe educational spaces for all students.”
The school’s code of conduct states that it is against the rules to discriminate or harass based on “race, national origin, disability or religion.” Examples include offensive language, name calling, physical acts of aggression, hostile acts and the circulation of racist written material.
In a statement to WTKR, a spokesperson for York County School Division said officials there “respectfully understand the decision that division made in the interest of student safety.” In addition, the Poquoson Police Department said this week that it was aware of the videos and will now work to “address any criminal or status offense supported by credible evidence.”
*see full story by NewsWeek