An Orange County, California high school student has been disciplined after yelling racist comments at a Black student basketball player.
“Where is his slave owner?” “Chain him up,” and other racial slurs were all spewed at a Black Portola High School student by a Laguna Hills High School student during a basketball game last week. The entire incident was caught on video by the Black student’s parent, Sabrina Brown.
In a statement, the Saddleback Valley Unified School District said the Laguna Hills High student was disciplined for making “inappropriate and inflammatory racist comments.” On Tuesday, SVUSD Superintendent Crystal Turner issued her own statement regarding the incident.
“The language and connotations expressed by the words used do not represent the culture, attitudes, or feelings of the students and staff of LHHS, nor those of Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD),” Turner said, CNN U.S. reports. Turner went on to say that the student who made the racist remarks “has been counseled, and immediate, appropriate consequences and discipline [has] taken place.”
Turner mentioned that “although apologies are necessary, they do not suffice,” adding that “the words used by” the student “will never be acceptable.”
While addressing the City Council, Brown highlighted that racism against the Black community is ongoing.
“I’m sure many of you are appalled and surprised by what you saw in the video,” Brown said.” You may believe that this is an isolated incident and would like to put this behind you, but we don’t have that option. The color of our skin does not allow us that option.”
