Written by Marisol Gainey
Yuba City residents were stunned and horrified when a video began circulating showing members of the River Valley High School football team auctioning off their Black teammates.
The video shows three Black students, dressed in nothing but their underwear, standing on what appears to be a platform while others from the team shout dollar amounts at them.
The account of this incident was uploaded to the popular TikTok app, which is when the high school and then the superintendent were made aware and became involved.
The high school has proceeded to take disciplinary action against any students who were present, in addition to prohibiting those involved from playing in the remaining four games of the season.
With practically the entire team at this “auction,” the varsity team no longer has enough players to continue the season.
Superintendent Doreen Osumi made a statement earlier last week, exclaiming that students “may argue that it was a joke, and they intended no harm, but the fact is that this is not only harmful, but it is also disgraceful.”
In addition to the team being banned, some students may also face additional disciplinary consequences as a result of the video.
Osumi added that the “students spent time not only thinking about how terrible this was, but were still willing to do so without any regard for this being hateful and hurtful.”
Due to this video being a direct violation of the student-athlete code of conduct, the administration at River Valley High School plans to implement educational resources and discussions for their students to learn more about racism.
The California Interscholastic Federation requires “all schools and teams to adhere to decency and integrity.” Founded in 1914, the federation was established in order to “standardize rules and team structures between schools.”
Created by a group of principals, the main agenda of this foundation is to foster student growth in values and ethics.
“CIF’s ideal of ‘Pursuing Victory with Honor’ provides the opportunity to dramatically influence the actions of the athletic community.
CIF strives to strengthen the integrity of students and adults across the state by promoting the concepts of sportsmanship, honesty, and quality academics.
These priorities advance the highest principles of character – trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship.”
Although the CIF does require students to follow a set of rules and guidelines to be active participants in high school sports, they ultimately leave any disciplinary punishment to be imposed by the administration themselves.
This incident at River Valley High School becomes the second school in the region to be under investigation for racially motivated attacks and discriminatory actions toward Black students.
Amador High School recently came under scrutiny when a group chat was opened amongst the student body titled “kill the blacks.” Word of these racially motivated incidents has caused TikTok users to speak up about the systemic racism that has been ever-present in school culture.
Various sources provide personal accounts of their high school’s senior slave day, in which students were auctioned off and forced to do everything their “slave master” said.
In the incident, the administration is encouraged to not only correct the issue but to educate current students on racism and the effect systemic racism has on our attitudes toward others.
These two incidents essentially challenge schools and other institutions to evaluate how much of the past still influences our present.
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