Louisiana Football Referee Allegedly Called HS Player The N-Word For Kneeling During The National Anthem

A Louisiana referee allegedly called a high school player the “N-Word” because the athlete chose to kneel, rather than stand for the national anthem. After the game, the opposing team and their fans threw rocks at the team’s bus in the latest ugly incident to be fostered by the ongoing national anthem protests controversy.

As Pen Point News reports, “multiple people” in attendance at the September 29 game between Rosepine and North Central High School told a reporter that they overheard a referee, who has not been identified, call a North Central High School player a derogatory and racist word, colloquially referred to as the “N-Word.” The student in question was kneeling during the national anthem; taking a cue from several National Football League players and a handful of players in other sports.

Specifically, according to The Root, the incident occurred after half-time. As the North Central Players were returning to the field, the ref in question allegedly told the teen to “not come back, n****r.”

Following the game, say parents who were there, a crowd of about 100 people – opposing players, fans, parents – began hurling insults at the North Central Players and throwing rocks at their bus.

“Don’t come back n**ger” was what Black students were told when they decided to #TakeAKnee during a school’s game: https://t.co/QlQrivllBu pic.twitter.com/7SEOr8GehI

— The Root (@TheRoot) October 8, 2017

Pen Point News reporter Daniel Banguel interviewed a woman who claims to have been at the game. She claims the racial tensions that night began even before the game began.

“A parent from Rosepine came on North Central’s side, started cursing, at someone that was on our side.”

The woman interviewed further claimed that the officiating crew was deliberately unfair to the North Central team; unfairly calling fouls on the team and generally favoring Rosepine.

The Root notes that the different racial makeup of the two communities is startling. Rosepine High School, near the Texas border, has an almost all-white student body, with 86 percent of its students white and only six percent black. North Central High School, 95 miles east, is 74 percent black and 25 percent white.

Meanwhile, The Root writer Michael Harriot describes Rosepine’s fondness for the American flag as “almost pornographic.” What’s more, he says, several townsfolks’ social media posts praised the local high school for their deference to the flag.

https://www.facebook.com/913662168729979/photos/a.915227195240143.1073741827.913662168729979/1437129153049942/?type=3&permPage=1

As of this writing, no school officials from Rosepine have publicly commented on the alleged incident. Similarly, The Root contacted the Louisiana High School Athletic Association for comment and did not, as of press time, receive a reply.

[Featured Image by Keith Johnston/Shutterstock]