LOS ANGELES – A Northern California high school disciplined several members of its football team after they made a video in which they appeared to hold a “slave auction” of three African-American classmates.
The video showed members of the River Valley High School football team in Yuba City, who staged a “slave auction” of their teammates.
In a statement quoted by the Los Angeles Times newspaper, Doreen Osumi, superintendent of the Yuba City Unified School District, described the incident on Monday as “extremely distressing”.
“The recording clearly demonstrates that this situation was orchestrated and organized, which underscores my concern that students spent time contemplating this terrible act without any consideration that this action is hateful and hurtful.” có Osumi.
The superintendent confirmed that the participating students will not play the rest of the season for violating the code of conduct.
The television station KCRA, which obtained a copy of the video, reported that the images show a dozen students participating in the auction of three African Americans who were standing in their underwear against a wall.
Yuba City is a city in Sutter County, and is part of the “Greater Sacramento” area, which includes Sacramento, the capital of California.