A high school basketball announcer in Oklahoma was caught on a hot mic calling the girls basketball team from Norman High School “fucking niggers” for kneeling in protest during the national anthem prior to their game on Thursday.
The Norman High School girls basketball team was set to face off against Midwest City High School during the Oklahoma 6A state girls basketball quarterfinals. The game was broadcast with distribution support by the NFHS Network, which distributes local high school football games as live streams all throughout the country.
Just before the playing of the national anthem, the Norman High School team, which has several African-American players, all decided to kneel in unison protest. It was at this point that the announcer believed his mic to be off and began his racist tirade during the broadcast.
“They’re kneeling? Fucking niggers. I hope Norman gets their ass kicked. Fuck them. I hope they lose. They’re gonna kneel like that?”
Here is the video in full: (the slur can be audibly heard at about the 0:58 mark)
The team’s coach, Frankie Parks, made the video public by posting the video on Twitter.
Hey @NFHSNetwork looks like you forgot to cut the Mic!!! “F****** N******” is the one that really got me!! Tell us how you really feel!! THIS IS WHY THEY KNEEL!!!@Migliorino_Nick @tohara_o @NHS_AthDept @gonormantigers pic.twitter.com/mmWQAecLaF
— Frankie Parks (@CoachFParks) March 12, 2021
In response, the NFHS Network released the following statement, via Twitter:
We have been made aware of the racist and hateful remarks made during a broadcast of the OSSAA Quarterfinals last night. We completely condemn these acts and are investigating the matter and the individuals involved.
See our complete statement attached. pic.twitter.com/c0r0YVhvIC— NFHS Network (@NFHSNetwork) March 12, 2021
According to the NFHS website FAQs, the announcers are typically either students or professionals who are hired by either school district.
Norman Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Nick Migliorino, also released a statement saying, “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.”
“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. 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.”
The identity of the racist announcer who said the racist slur has not been made public.
UPDATE: The guy was a former youth pastor who blamed it on a “sugar spike.”
