Norman Public Schools officials, along with Norman Mayor Breea Clark, issued statements Friday condemning “racist and hateful” remarks made by a game announcer during the Norman High School girls basketball game against Midwest City, and the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association said it’s investigating the incident. During the Norman High School girls’ basketball game against Midwest City on Thursday night in the Oklahoma 6A State Basketball Tournament, National Federation of High School Network announcers on a live stream broadcast made racist and hateful comments targeted at Norman High student-athletes, according to a statement from Norman Public Schools.In the video, the announcers were caught on a hot mic and could be heard calling players a racial slur as they were kneeling during the national anthem. Officials said the announcers were contracted by OSSAA for the state tournament. Norman Public Schools District Superintendent Nick Migliorino issued the following statement:“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. “Moving forward NPS will rely only on our long-standing, community partner SportsTalk Media to live stream the remainder of the tournament, as we have full confidence in their proven ability to respectfully support our student-athletes.”David Jackson, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, released the following statement:”The OSSAA was made aware that some very offensive, inappropriate comments were made during the NFHS livestream broadcast of the quarter final state tournament basketball game between the Norman High School and Midwest City girls teams at Sapulpa High School Thursday night.”On behalf of the NFHS Network and the OSSAA, we sincerely apologize that this happened at one of our events. While we are currently investigating the incident, this crew will not be doing any more games for the remainder of our championships. This kind of behavior will never be tolerated by anyone representing the NFHS or OSSAA. State tournament playoffs are a special time for our schools, their students, and their communitites, and anything that is counter-productive to education-based activities will be addressed immediately and appropriately.”We will make further comments as we finish our investigation.”The NFHS Network released the following statement:”We were sickened by the comments made last night at the start of the NFHS Network’s broadcast of the OSSAA girls basketball game between Norman High School and Midwest City High School. The thoughts expressed in no way represent the NFHS Network and we are outraged that they found their way into our production.”The NFHS Network firmly condemns racism, hate and discrimination, and there is no room for this in high school sports or anywhere.”We sincerely apologize to the students, their families and the entire community for having such ignorant comments expressed during the broadcast. We are aggressively investigating the incident and will ensure that any individuals responsible will have no relationship with the NFHS Network moving forward.”Norman Mayor Breea Clark also issued a statement Friday morning, saying that she is, “livid and absolutely disgusted about the racist and hateful comments directed towards the young women on the Norman High School basketball team by a game announcer in the live broadcast of last night’s game.” See her full statement below:“These young athletes were simply expressing themselves as hundreds of professional athletes around the nation have done, and no one, let alone a child, deserves to experience this kind of racist and toxic behavior. The announcer could’ve stopped with declaring he hoped our team would lose, but instead he went further and decided to use profanity and racist slurs about our children.“Join me in calling for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) to end their contract with the National Federation of High School (NFHS) Network. Their employees do not need to be anywhere near children. Further, these young women and their team deserve a public apology from NFHS and OSSAA. There is NO PLACE for this behavior in our nation, and certainly not in youth sports.“I commend Dr. Migliorino, the NHS Girls’ basketball team, and Norman Public Schools on their strong statement denouncing and condemning this incident. I have spoken with some of the parents and have offered to speak to the team directly. I am also working with the City’s Chief Diversity & Equity Officer to schedule a listening session town hall with the youth of Norman, so we can learn how this incident has impacted them and hear directly from our kids how we can improve our community going forward. “We remain committed to building an inclusive community in Norman.” KOCO 5’s Erin Beu is following the latest on this story. Be sure to tune in at 5 and 6 p.m. tonight for the latest developments.
Norman Public Schools officials, along with Norman Mayor Breea Clark, issued statements Friday condemning “racist and hateful” remarks made by a game announcer during the Norman High School girls basketball game against Midwest City, and the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association said it’s investigating the incident.
During the Norman High School girls’ basketball game against Midwest City on Thursday night in the Oklahoma 6A State Basketball Tournament, National Federation of High School Network announcers on a live stream broadcast made racist and hateful comments targeted at Norman High student-athletes, according to a statement from Norman Public Schools.
In the video, the announcers were caught on a hot mic and could be heard calling players a racial slur as they were kneeling during the national anthem.
Officials said the announcers were contracted by OSSAA for the state tournament.
Norman Public Schools District Superintendent Nick Migliorino issued the following statement:
“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.
“Moving forward NPS will rely only on our long-standing, community partner SportsTalk Media to live stream the remainder of the tournament, as we have full confidence in their proven ability to respectfully support our student-athletes.”
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David Jackson, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, released the following statement:
“The OSSAA was made aware that some very offensive, inappropriate comments were made during the NFHS livestream broadcast of the quarter final state tournament basketball game between the Norman High School and Midwest City girls teams at Sapulpa High School Thursday night.
“On behalf of the NFHS Network and the OSSAA, we sincerely apologize that this happened at one of our events. While we are currently investigating the incident, this crew will not be doing any more games for the remainder of our championships. This kind of behavior will never be tolerated by anyone representing the NFHS or OSSAA. State tournament playoffs are a special time for our schools, their students, and their communitites, and anything that is counter-productive to education-based activities will be addressed immediately and appropriately.
“We will make further comments as we finish our investigation.”
The NFHS Network released the following statement:
“We were sickened by the comments made last night at the start of the NFHS Network’s broadcast of the OSSAA girls basketball game between Norman High School and Midwest City High School. The thoughts expressed in no way represent the NFHS Network and we are outraged that they found their way into our production.
“The NFHS Network firmly condemns racism, hate and discrimination, and there is no room for this in high school sports or anywhere.
“We sincerely apologize to the students, their families and the entire community for having such ignorant comments expressed during the broadcast. We are aggressively investigating the incident and will ensure that any individuals responsible will have no relationship with the NFHS Network moving forward.”
Norman Mayor Breea Clark also issued a statement Friday morning, saying that she is, “livid and absolutely disgusted about the racist and hateful comments directed towards the young women on the Norman High School basketball team by a game announcer in the live broadcast of last night’s game.” See her full statement below:
“These young athletes were simply expressing themselves as hundreds of professional athletes around the nation have done, and no one, let alone a child, deserves to experience this kind of racist and toxic behavior. The announcer could’ve stopped with declaring he hoped our team would lose, but instead he went further and decided to use profanity and racist slurs about our children.
“Join me in calling for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) to end their contract with the National Federation of High School (NFHS) Network. Their employees do not need to be anywhere near children. Further, these young women and their team deserve a public apology from NFHS and OSSAA. There is NO PLACE for this behavior in our nation, and certainly not in youth sports.
“I commend Dr. Migliorino, the NHS Girls’ basketball team, and Norman Public Schools on their strong statement denouncing and condemning this incident. I have spoken with some of the parents and have offered to speak to the team directly. I am also working with the City’s Chief Diversity & Equity Officer to schedule a listening session town hall with the youth of Norman, so we can learn how this incident has impacted them and hear directly from our kids how we can improve our community going forward.
“We remain committed to building an inclusive community in Norman.”
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You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
KOCO 5’s Erin Beu is following the latest on this story. Be sure to tune in at 5 and 6 p.m. tonight for the latest developments.