‘Unacceptable’: Texas High School Basketball Game Erupts in Ugly Racism

Two Texas school districts have launched an investigation after a video surfaced on social media of high school parents and students displaying bigoted behavior—including making monkey calls—to players of a basketball team.

In a clip from the disheartening video, which was shared online and obtained by The Daily Beast, a student from River Road High School in Amarillo can be seen standing at the free throw line. The crowd makes noise as the student prepares to take a shot, and then loud monkey calls interrupt the cheers.

“This is unacceptable. I think the student section is an amazing student involvement opportunity. But Dalhart has crossed the line tonight,” River Road High School senior Cooper Pierce wrote about the incident on Facebook.

He initially said the game between Dalhart and River Road high schools was going well, but became raucous during the fourth quarter when Dalhart students sent everything off the rails. Separately from the player being taunted with monkey calls, another player of color for River Road was allegedly called the N-word while standing in front of the student section. Pierce also noted that parents from Dalhart called the team “ghetto,” “trashy,” and “other extremely disrespectful names.”

“This is absolutely ridiculous. I believe something needs to be done and immediately,” Pierce wrote. “They shouldn’t get away with the amount of things they did tonight.”

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“Not all of Dalhart is like that but it needs to be addressed in the community that it isn’t cool, funny, or ok to do this shit,” a Facebook user responded to the post. “Dalhart has gone down hill. …It’s just gotten worse.”

“We can assume what the parents are teaching or allowing their children to do,” another Facebook user commented. “And the cycle continues.”

Parents Fume as High School Ballers Are Benched for Monkey Taunts

A source close to the River Road High School community told The Daily Beast that Dalhart students also dressed up in “costumes” for the basketball game, dubbing it “Thug” night.

The source provided a screenshot from the Dalhart Facebook page that showed students at the game dressed in their perception of “thuggish” attire. White students donned durags, face tattoos, sunglasses, backwards caps, flannel, and bling. In one photo, students posed together with imitation gang signs while sticking out their tongues.