High school basketball team finds racist messages in locker room. ‘Incredibly harmful’

A high school basketball team in Wisconsin was met with racist chants from an opposing student section and hateful messaging in their locker room, officials say.

Muskego High School is now under investigation after the alleged “incredibly harmful” behavior toward players at Beloit Memorial High School.

During the game on Friday, March 3, at Muskego, the home team’s student section dressed in “thug outfits” with apparel that “depict(s) Black people in a racist light,” according to the Beloit Daily News and TMJ4. Beloit Memorial has several Black players on its team.

A racial slur and a swastika were also observed traced in dust above Beloit Memorial’s lockers, WKOW reported.

“It was obvious racism,” Tanya Karl, a Beloit Memorial parent, told WKOW. “It was obvious that they were trying to intimidate our boys by making them feel smaller. It was appalling that my kid in the locker room, the stuff that was written there, the words they were saying, the chanting they were doing, the monkey sounds they were making.”

Muskego High School is made up of 89 percent white students and less than 1 percent Black students, according to U.S. News & World Report. Two-thirds of Beloit Memorial High School’s students are minorities, including 21 percent who are Black, the news outlet reported.

Ashley Hereford, another Beloit Memorial parent, also mentioned the monkey noise chants. She told the Beloit Daily News that Muskego’s athletic director would not answer her when she asked what the chants meant.

Muskego won the game 70-65.

Administrators with Muskego High School said in a statement on Sunday, March 5, that they learned of the concerns after the game. The Muskego Police Department is supporting the school district in an investigation, administrators said.

“We were deeply disappointed and saddened by the information shared,” the high school said. “Student safety is our number one priority and we work to ensure students have a positive and rewarding experience while competing in a safe environment. We take allegations of this nature very seriously.”

As a part of its investigation, the high school said it will interview students and review recorded footage from the game. In its apology to Beloit Memorial, Muskego High School said “consequences for inappropriate actions will be prompt.”

Kevin Zimmerman, a member of the Muskego-Norway School Board, urged community members to “not jump to conclusions,” indicating that “there is always more to the story usually.”

He said the actions are “uncalled for” if proved to be true.

State Sen. Mark Spreitzer and State Rep. Clinton Anderson, both of whom are Democrats who represent Beloit, condemned the alleged behavior.

“Beloit students who traveled to Muskego to play a game that they love were instead met with hate, swastikas and racial slurs,” Spreitzer said in a statement. “I support the School District of Beloit’s investigation of this incident, and the Muskego-Norway School District must treat this with the seriousness that it deserves.”

“What took place at the Beloit Memorial boys’ basketball game vs. Muskego was incredibly harmful to not only our student athletes, but to our entire community,” Anderson said in a statement.

Despite the hateful messaging, Beloit Memorial’s basketball team will not retaliate, said senior Decarlos Nora III.

“We’re above that,” Nora III told WMTV. “We’re going to do it the right way and just rise above it and overcome it and then I hope that they don’t do it again.”

Muskego is about 20 miles southwest of Milwaukee.

This story was originally published March 6, 2023 at 1:18 PM with the headline "High school basketball team finds racist messages in locker room. ‘Incredibly harmful’."