A racist outburst at a state quarterfinals high school basketball game in Oklahoma was caught on tape when OSPN owner Matt Rowan used racial slurs and cursed the Norman Lady Tigers basketball team after the team took a pre-game knee.
In the full video, you hear a man speaking with someone asking if the team is kneeling, followed by racial slurs and hoping they lose to the opposing team.
That’s when Rowan asked what they were doing, said he hoped they lost the game, and called the girls f***ing n*gg***s.
Following the backlash, Rowan issued a statement saying he was disoriented from his blood sugar spiking.
“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,” said Rowan, who has Type 1 diabetes, in the statement.
Low sugar levels do indeed have a long list of symptoms – but racist outbursts are not one of them. And any health professional or anyone with diabetes will tell you that if your sugar levels are low enough that they trigger symptoms – you ARE NOT able to function enough to do your job.
The school district was swift to respond.
“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,” said Dr. Nick Migliorino, Superintendent of Norman Public Schools, in a statement.
But tellingly, there was a complete lack of a reaction from Rowan’s fellow announcer in the booth. And this illustrates a more dire point: There are and will always be racist people in our society. And they are only enabled and hidden by the silence of their friends and networks.
Until the enablers are held just as accountable as the violators dumb enough to be recorded – you can miss us with the canned outrage responses.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. – Edmund Burke
And for the record – not only did the Lady Tigers win the quarter-final game, but they also went on to win the state championship game. #lookatGod
