A black basketball player was subjected to racist slur after he was called a "gorilla" during a high school basketball game in Olympia. The victim's father shared the viral video of the incident while disclosing the incident on Facebook.
The video was recorded and shared by the students from Capital High School in Olympia, who also made ape noises while abusing the member of the opposite team.
'Blacks are not MONKEY's, GORILLA's, APE's or NIGGER's'
The incident took place on Friday night during a match between the players of Capital High School and Lacey's River Ridge High School.
The video shared by the victim's father shows a boy hurling racist abuses at a player of the opposite team wearing Jersey number 3. As the stadium erupts into ape noises aimed at the black player, the boy recording the video shouts, "F**ck you No 3. F**k you. No. 3 is a gorilla, bi**h."
Posting the video on his Facebook page, Qayi Steplight, the victim's father said that his son was targeted at the River Ridge High School (Lacey, Washington) vs Capital High School basketball game.
"The student body at Capital High School were yelling racial epithets during the game directed toward My son. One of the students recorded a video and shared it on social media and even tagged my son in the video," read the post.
"Please stand up and let your voice be heard. Blacks are not MONKEY's, GORILLA's, APE's or NIGGER's and whatever else they choose to call us. Capital High, Olympia High, Tumwater High and Black Hills are all included. It's time something be done...!!!" Steplight wrote.
Support Pours in For the Victim
MyNorthwest reported that in a statement the Olympia School District said that it "has no tolerance for racism," and that the Capital High School students involved in the video were being disciplined.
"We have restorative practices inside and outside of school, and interventions and supports in place, that wrap around all students impacted, especially students who identify as BIPOC," the district said. "We want to ensure safe spaces for students, staff and families."
The incident also sparked a lot of anger on social media. "Why do you allow racism? Expel all who made gorilla noises and harassed a black basketball player on your watch. Fire the adults who were supposed to be in charge and did nothing about it from the coaches to every adult staff member that was there," tweeted a user while tagging the Olympia Schools.
"Yes this is not okay at all and what an amazing dad and just person in general for doing whats right and making sure this is heard and is shared something needs to happen and they need to learn this is not okay and not acceptable at all," commented another user.
