Police in Virginia are investigating an apparent racial and sexual incident where white student athletes were filmed pinning down black students while simulating sex and shouting racist comments.
Clips of the incident, which were shared on snapchat, were taken in the locker room of Short Pump Middle School locker room earlier this month, according to the New York Daily News.
The boys involved were all members of the school’s football team. One of the parents told a local station that the black players were held down on the floor while their white teammates “dry humped them” and shouted racist comments.
“We gonna f—- the black outta these African-American children from Uganda,” the text on the snap read.
The principal of the school, Thomas McAuley, called the actions “appalling, disturbing and inexcusable” in an open letter to parents.
“We will include staff, parent, administrator and student representatives in this dialogue,” the letter reads. “Our hope is to use this very unfortunate event as a meaningful learning opportunity.”
The first step towards that was to cancel the football team’s season. The team forfeited the rest of their season, but will continue to attend practice.
Henrico County NAACP President Frank J. Thornton called the school’s action a step in the right direction, but he told the Richmond Post-Dispatch that he was not sure where the school was equipped to get at the root of the problem.
“You can’t just sugar-coat,” Thornton said. “You need a group who really knows what they’re doing.”