Disgusting.

http://www.richmond.com/news/local/henrico/football-season-canceled-for-short-pump-middle-school-after-disturbing/article_33cdb41a-406d-5894-bbc9-1037f7fb8cde.html

The Short Pump Middle School football team is forfeiting the remainder of its season in the aftermath of a lurid, racially insensitive video shot in the school’s locker room.

In a message addressed to the Henrico County schools community Friday afternoon, the School Board announced that the remaining games in the team’s football season would be forfeited, though practices would continue. A mandatory part of the practices will be discussions about “reporting responsibilities, accountability, ethics, sexual harassment, and racial tolerance,” the letter reads.

“As a consequence of the students’ actions that came to the school’s attention on Monday, the remaining football games for the SPMS football team will be forfeited,” the message reads. “We acknowledge that all team members were not involved in the incident; however, we believe there are important lessons/reminders that should be reinforced with all team members.”

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The video in question, which was posted on Snapchat, showed black students being straddled by their peers in a video overlayed with racially charged language. Police were made aware of the video Tuesday and have been investigating the incident. Some Henrico parents were angered that they first learned about the video in a news report published Wednesday.

The Short Pump Middle School football team had one regular-season game and two postseason games left in its season, according to Andy Jenks, spokesman for Henrico schools.

Henrico NAACP President Frank J. Thornton called the School Board’s announcement a step in the right direction, but he questioned whether the school division is 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.”

According to the School Board message, the school division is developing steps to prevent similar incidents.


“We will include staff, parent, administrator and student representatives in this dialogue,” the message reads. “Our hope is to use this very unfortunate event as a meaningful learning opportunity for students moving forward.”

It also noted that “while we realize many families would like to know more, we are prohibited from providing information pertaining to students.”

April Sullivan, a parent of a child at Short Pump Middle, called the response “a first step,” but she said more was needed “to address the systemic class and race issues that exist in society in general and Henrico County in particular.”

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*