The Snapchat had just about every offensive topic the middle school students could cram into a video clip: race-based simulated sexual assaults, profanity-laced slurs and language that shocked whoever the intended audience was — and, eventually, many more people.
In a flash, the Short Pump Middle School football team’s video clip has rocketed nationwide.
The consequences were swift: According to The Associated Press, the rest of the team’s season has been canceled; police are investigating the students seen in the video; and the whole team has to undergo sensitivity training.
The students recorded the video sometime last week, and someone shared it on Snap-chat. It ultimately got out and spread in this Richmond suburb of nearly 25,000.
The video is captioned: “What really goes on in the football locker room.” In the clip, some of the team’s white football players simulate sex acts on the black members, bending them over benches or gyrating against them on the floor, according to Richmond CBS affiliate WTVR. Another caption says “We’re going to f- the black outta these black children from Uganda.”
An edited version of the video — along with a full account of the outrage it was sparking — was broadcast on a local TV news station.
In a message to the community posted Friday on Face-book, the Henrico County School Board said it was “deeply concerned” by the video.
“Adamantly, behavior of this type will not be tolerated in our schools,” the letter said. “… We have extremely high expectations, and students who fail to meet the Code of Student Conduct standards will be addressed promptly and appropriately.”
No one has been charged over the video, and news outlets said investigators were trying to determine whether the black students in the video were a part of a very bad joke or were filmed against their will.