Announcer uses racial slur as Black players kneel during anthem in Oklahoma, video shows
An announcer used a racial slur as members of a high school girls basketball team kneeled during the national anthem before a state quarterfinal game in Oklahoma, video shows.
The racist comment, which included profanity, can be heard on a hot microphone before Thursday’s game between Norman and Midwest City high schools in Sapulpa, Oklahoma You can listen to the audio here. As a warning, the video contains graphic language.
The announcer who made the comment issued an apology Friday afternoon.
Norman Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Nick Migliorino described the racial slur as “hate speech” in a statement issued after the incident.
“We condemn and will not tolerate the disgusting words and attitudes of these announcers,” Migliorino said. “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.”
Norman, which is ranked No. 18 nationally by ESPN, won 53-40 to remained undefeated.
Mayor calls out ‘toxic behavior’
The city’s mayor, Breea Clark took to social media to express her outrage on the incident.
“I am 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. 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,” Clark said in a statement. “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.”
The two announcers, who have not been identified, were working the game for the National Federation of High School Network and the game was livestreamed via Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.
OSSAA executive director David Jackson apologized for the incident and said the two announcers were removed in a statement:
“The OSSAA was made aware that some very offensive, inappropriate comments were made during the NFHS livestream broadcast of the quarterfinal 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.”
‘Sickened by the comments’
The NFHS also issued a statement, saying they were “sickened by the comments” and “firmly condemn racism, hate and discrimination.”
“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.,” the statement read.
The video drew outrage on Twitter after it went viral:
“What are their names?” tweeted Shaun King, author and civil rights activist who co-founded Real Justice PAC. “These men must be fired immediately.”
“Trash. Awful,” tweeted @Brettnnun. “Full support of the Normal North Girls.”
“While I want to see the good in all people and show empathy to divergent view points, this is simply irreprehensible,” tweeted @LaughlinJCU.
Announcer apologizes for comments
The announcer who made the racist comments is Matt Rowan and he released a statement Friday afternoon that was shared via his attorney to The Frontier. Rowan is the owner of OSPN, the live-streaming platform that broadcasted Thursday’s game.
“I, Matt Rowan, on Thursday, March 11, 2021, most regrettably made some statements that cannot be taken back.
During the Normal High School girls basketball game against Midwest City, I made inappropriate and racist comments believing that the microphone was off; however, let me state immediately that is no excuse such comments should have never been uttered.
“I am a family man. I am a married, have two children and at one time was a youth pastor. I continue to be a member of the Baptist church. I have not only embarrassed and disappointed my family and my friends.
“I will state that I suffer Type 1 Diabetes and during the game my sugar was spiking. While not excusing my remarks it is not unusual when my sugar spikes that I become disoriented and often say things that are not appropriate as well as hurtful. I do not believe that I would have made such horrible statements absent my sugar spiking.”
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Announcer uses racial slur as Black players kneel during anthem in Oklahoma, video shows."