District officials with Lincoln County (N.C.) Schools have promised disciplinary actions for student-athletes from West Lincoln High School after a video posted to social media showed the students making racist and inappropriate comments.
According to WCNC Charlotte, student-athletes in the video can be heard yelling racial slurs. As a result, the district and the high school have announced āeducational and restorative measures.ā
The short video posted to Facebook shows five students in a garage yelling the racially inappropriate language multiple times. WBTV News reported that the slur does appear to be directed at a specific person. That video has been viewed over 100,000 times.
In a statement posted online, the district said, āThe behavior displayed in this video is deeply disappointing, unacceptable, and does not reflect the values of West Lincoln High School, our athletic program, or our community. We want to be clear: racism, discrimination, and derogatory language of any kind have no place in our school, on our teams, or in our community. We recognize the harm such words and actions cause, and we take these matters very seriously.ā
School officials have not confirmed what disciplinary action the students will be facing, nor which team the athletes are from. Parents and community members responding to the statement on Facebook shared a range of opinions. While some believe the students should face suspensions, others were quick to point out that the incident did not take place on school grounds.
āWe have addressed this incident directly with the students involved and their families, and appropriate disciplinary action is being taken in accordance with school policy,ā school officials said in the statement. āIn addition, we are working to implement educational and restorative measures to help ensure that all of our students understand the importance of respect, empathy, and inclusion.ā
