A California high school has canceled its football season after some members of the team filmed a prank where they appeared to auction off Black members of the team.
The video shows members of the River Valley High School football team holding a "slave auction" of their Black teammates. School district officials received the video on Thursday, according to CNN.
Yuba City Unified School District superintendent Doreen Osumi called the video "deeply offensive."
Students involved in the incident were barred from competing the rest of the football season for violating the school's athletic code. As a result, the varsity football team no longer has enough players and will be forced to forfeit the rest of the season.
“Re-enacting a slave sale as a prank tells us that we have a great deal of work to do with our students so they can distinguish between intent and impact,” Osumi wrote in an email. “They may have thought this skit was funny, but it is not; it is unacceptable and requires us to look honestly and deeply at issues of systemic racism.”
Some of the players involved in the video may face additional disciplinary measures, and the school plans to implement education and discussion around the incident.
“At this time, the District and site administration are working in earnest to identify lessons and programs to help our student body learn from this situation,” Osumi said. “When students find humor in something that is so deeply offensive, it tells me that we have an opportunity to help them expand their mindset to be more aware, thoughtful and considerate of others.”
