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A Northern California high school has canceled the rest of its football season after a video surfaced of players acting out an apparent “slave auction” with black teammates. Yuba City Unified schools Superintendent Doreen Osumi said the district received the “disgraceful” video showing members of the River Valley High School varsity football team carrying out the racist act, the Sacramento Bee reported.
“I received a copy of a recording of River Valley High School football team members acting out a reprehensible act of a slave auction,” she said in an email sent to district staff late Thursday, according to the news outlet. “The recording clearly demonstrates that this situation was orchestrated and organized, which underscores my concern that students spent time contemplating this terrible act without the slightest regard that this action is hateful and hurtful,” Osumi wrote.
“(River Valley players) may argue that it was a joke, and they intended no harm, but the fact is that this is not only harmful, it is disgraceful,” she added. As a result of the sickening prank, the team forfeited last week’s game. The students involved in the incident were kicked off the team, leaving it without enough players to compete — and leading to the cancellation of the rest of the season.
The forfeit places the Falcons of River Valley with a record of 0-6, according to the Bee. In a statement, Osumi wrote that those who took part in the act “violated our student athlete code of conduct which they all signed and committed to follow, and that will not be ignored or minimized,” Fox 40 reported. The forfeit places the Falcons of River Valley with a record of 0-6, according to the Bee. In a statement, Osumi wrote that those who took part in the act “violated our student athlete code of conduct which they all signed and committed to follow, and that will not be ignored or minimized,” The students who took part in the incident may face additional punishment.