Virginia high school forfeits football game after videos of football players' racist taunts goes viral

Poquoson High School in Poquoson, Virginia, will not have a football game Friday night after videos of its players reportedly shouting racial epithets went viral.

What are the details?

Poquoson High School administrators announced the team will forfeit its game Friday against York High School, according to WAVY-TV. The videos, which made their way to Snapchat, reportedly featured a handful of students shouting the N-word. They were deleted a short time later.

Poquoson School Superintendent Jennifer Parish said that several teens in the videos were members of the high school football team. The videos were reportedly recorded at a party.

Newsweek reported that a student can be heard saying in the video, "F*** n******, what are you gonna do about it?" A second video reportedly features a teen making "violent threats to attack another person" while "using racial slurs."

A member of the Poquoson football team later told WAVY-TV that the videos were filmed "in response to a student at a separate school who had also used a racial slur."

The football player added, "I couldn't believe it, but I go to Poquoson, you gotta deal with it. Like being the only black, I have no say really."

What else?

Parish issued a statement on the school's website:

The language and behavior in these videos have no place in our schools or in our community. We find it abhorrent, and, while these videos were created outside of school, we are taking action within the scope of our Code of Conduct and under division policy.

One action that we are taking is to forfeit Friday's game against York High. While we know some will be disappointed, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep our students safe. We also have a responsibility to help our students understand that behavior has consequences.

As a school division, we will continue to take a strong and unified stance against racist behavior and language. Our schools welcome and serve all students, and we stand firm in our effort to maintain safe educational spaces for all students.

A spokesperson for the Poquoson Police Department also said that the department was aware of the videos and pledges to "address any criminal or status offense supported by credible evidence."

Poquoson High School Students Use "N" Word and Explicit Language in Videoswww.youtube.com