Two Kansas high schools have opened investigations after students were caught on camera holding what appears to be a black baby doll and allegedly yelling the N-word during a basketball game.
The Topeka High School and Valley Center High School basketball teams faced off on Saturday. But it wasn’t long until the visiting Topeka players were allegedly bombarded with ‘racial slurs, threats and disgusting taunts’ by fans in the stands.
Some of the students can also be seen in a video of the game holding what appears to be a black baby doll as they hurled offensive language at the rival team, which has a makeup of black and white players.
The video appears to show a Valley Center fan holding the doll up as students call one of the players a ‘p***y.’
A video still shows what appears to be a black baby doll that Valley Center students used to taunt Topeka High School students at a Saturday basketball game
Students alleged waved the baby doll around as they hurled racial epithets and other offensive phrases as the opposing team
School administrators say the game between rival schools got heated and both fan groups became rowdy and loud
Topeka High School coach launched a change.org petition about the incident asking that Valley Central student spectators be banned from games. The petition has garnered 10,000 signatures so far
The Topeka team’s coach, Geo Lyons, launched a Change.org petition shortly after the game asking for suspected students to be held accountable for their reprehensible behavior.
Lyons noted that his players were threatened with lynching, in addition to being called insulting names.
‘Employees from Valley Center High School failed to protect Topeka High from racial slurs, threats and disgusting taunts,’ he wrote.
The petition, which specifically calls for the removal of fans from Valley Center High School sporting events, has so far collected more than 10,000 signatures.
On Monday, Valley Center released an apology statement to the Topeka team that said: ‘First, we are sorry. We are better than the conduct we exhibited on Saturday.’
‘We would never want anyone in our schools, especially visitors, to feel insulted, upset, or disgusted by our behavior. The behavior exhibited was not in alignment with the values or teachings our district strives to uphold.
‘We are embarrassed by this display and will work diligently to keep it from recurring,’ it closed.
A spokesperson for Valley Central added that the black baby doll that is visible in videos of the event ‘was passed around between students during the game.’
‘While the “baby” was not brought intentionally as a prop to taunt or threaten Topeka High School, without context, seeing the “baby” and images of the “baby” caused hurt and concern to many, and for that, we are very sorry,’ added the spokesperson.
According to the school, the doll was given to a student as part of a human growth and development class.
On Tuesday, Valley Center officials said they had not discovered any evidence of racist language being used at the game. However, on Wednesday, those officials as well as Topeka administrators released a joint statement saying they’d launched a probe into the incident.
On Wednesday, administrators both from schools announced they were launching a joint investigation into the incident
The statement read, ‘As both districts work in a unified manner to investigate matters related to the athletic events on Saturday, we as superintendents are both committed to ensuring a safe and respectful climate at school events’
The statement read, ‘As both districts work in a unified manner to investigate matters related to the athletic events on Saturday, we as superintendents are both committed to ensuring a safe and respectful climate at school events.’
‘Incidents that occurred when individuals did not conduct themselves in ways that reflect our commitment to supporting students have been handled, and there are investigations that are ongoing.
‘We will work together to ensure the appropriate individuals are held accountable and work together to prevent such incidents in the future,’ it continued.
