Field hockey player apologizes after racial slur in viral video

A high school field hockey player from Pennsylvania, reportedly a recruit for UNC-Chapel Hill, has apologized after using a racial slur on a video that went viral.

An apology by Charlotte de Vries was posted on the Facebook page of her father, Raimo de Vries, on March 12.

"I am deeply ashamed for using racist language, and there is no excuse for using such language in public or private," the message said. "I realize that such words are offensive, uncalled for and, regardless of the situation, I should have known better. I take full responsibility and I apologize from the bottom of my heart to anyone and every who I have offended."

The incident made news last week when a recording of an Instagram video was posted on Twitter. The video showed two girls saying the N-word a few times.

The girls were identified in the tweet as students at Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Penn., and one was said to be de Vries, who, according to the website philfieldhockey.com, had committed to UNC as a sophomore in 2016.

The Daily Tar Heel and ABC11 also published reports identifying de Vries as one of the women in the video.

UNC does not comment on recruits, but issued a statement saying the video did not include a UNC student. "We condemn the use of racial slurs in any setting," the university statement said.

The Tredyffrin/Easttown School District near Philadelphia condemned the behavior by two Conestoga students in the video, but did not identify them by name. USA Field Hockey said it was aware of the discriminatory remark and had suspended an athlete from one of its junior national teams pending a review.

De Vries' father posted his daughter's statement, which he called "her honest and remorseful apology."

She wrote that she would do whatever was necessary to learn and grow from the experience.

"This has been a painful lesson for me," Charlotte de Vries' statement said. "I had no right hurting people. I truly hope that my thoughtlessness is a lesson for others, as it has been for me, that words do matter and that they can be hurtful."

The video had been viewed more than 2.5 million times as of Friday.

This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 3:35 PM with the headline "Field hockey player apologizes after racial slur in viral video."