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The University of Alabama has condemned the behavior of racist fans who were heard shouting homophobic slurs at three Texas Longhorn players during a football game on Saturday night.
The video of the incident, which was captured at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, shows fans behind the Texas sideline yelling the slurs at Black Longhorns players Jelani McDonald, X’Avion Brice, and Quintrevion “Tre” Wisner.
The players were celebrating their team’s 34-24 victory over Alabama when racist fans began to verbally accost the players.
Sports are often thought of as a utopia where people can come together and celebrate their shared love of the game. However, for many people, sports can also be a place where racist fans commune to live out their antebellum fantasies of insulting, mocking, and threatening Black people at their leisure and at no consequence.
University of Alabama releases a statement condemning fans’ actions
“We are disgusted by reports of vile language and inappropriate behavior Saturday night. To be clear, we condemn this behavior and it will not be tolerated in our venues. It is not representative of UA or our values,” a University representative told ABC News. “We expect all attendees to act with class and respect towards others.”
The statement added, “Fans are strongly encouraged to report issues to our security resources on-site. Gameday and delayed reports are appropriately addressed and anyone found to be in violation of our rules and expectations will be promptly removed and may be banned from future events.”
The university said it is working with its security team to identify the fans involved in the incident and take appropriate action.
Racist fans in Alabama have drawn widespread condemnation from across the sports world.
The National Football League, the Southeastern Conference, and the University of Texas all issued statements condemning the behavior of the rabid fans.
The incident is also a reminder of the ongoing problem of racism and homophobia in sports.
In recent years, there have been a number of high-profile incidents of Black athletes being subjected to racist and homophobic abuse from fans across the world.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban has not addressed the incident as of this article’s publication.