A high school baseball team in Virginia had their season canceled following disturbing allegations.
According to Kempsville High School (Virginia Beach, Virginia) principal Melissa George, a recent investigation “found that racism, hate speech, and harassment have been an ongoing issue for multiple years.”
John Penn, the varsity baseball coach, was included in the decision according to George.
Details of what transpired to lead to these allegations and the suspension of the season are still emerging. WTKR3 in nearby Norfolk reports that the “allegations appear to stem from the mother of a player who says her son was called racial slurs, including the n-word.”
According to WAVY 10 in Hampton Roads, the school board has referred to this as part of “student disciplinary matters.”
The local NAACP chapter issued a statement about the allegations of years of racism and hate speech:
“We call attention to the ongoing acts of hate and racism within the Virginia Beach Public School System at Kempsville High School and are extremely concerned about how this situation has existed for quite sometime. We applaud the brave young men who spoke up in an effort to advocate for equality within this system. It is unfortunate that racism still exist and that our youth have had to endure its ugly head. It must be stamped out everywhere. It is our goal to ensure that the residents do not live in fear or with undue anxiety, just because they are African American.”
(h/t 13 News Now)
Kempsville ends their season with a 5-13 record.