Student Broadcaster Says N-Word During High School Game

March Madness is top of mind for basketball fans at the moment, but there are even more controversial moments taking place at the high school level in South Bend, Indiana.

According to the Atlanta Black Star, in early March, Penn High School was playing a basketball playoff game against Riley High School, when a broadcaster at Penn allegedly used racial slurs.

It happened when Riley’s star player, Kelin Webster, who’s Black, was headed to the free throw line, and the Penn student doing play-by-play made monkey noises and said the N-word three times.

His broadcasting partner was shocked and immediately objected, saying, “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! … Simon, c’mon now,” and then, “Cut the stream,” which happened seconds later. 

Penn’s principal, Rachel Fry, made a statement the following day explaining that the “language and behavior do not reflect the expectations we have for our students or the values of Penn High School.” Since the district holds students to a higher standard, it is “taking this matter very seriously” and “actively investigating the situation.”

Fry acknowledged that the recording has been deleted to avoid further harm and that the administration has reached out to Riley High School to apologize and to let them know they’re taking the situation seriously.

A few days later, the South Bend NAACP chapter responded after initially thinking the racial mishap was AI-generated, only to be outraged when they discovered it was real. So officials dug into the school’s code of conduct and learned there’s no explicit mention of “derogatory language,” and they want it rectified.

They have two conditions to fix the issue, with one being, “That the student involved and his/her parents be required to research and write a paper examining the harmful impact of racist language on individuals and communities, and present those findings to the SBCSC School Board during a public meeting.”

As well as a task force be created to “examine implicit bias within the school district, assess its impact on students and staff, and recommend meaningful and enforceable corrective measures.”

Social media is rightfully outraged. See the reaction below.