‘Kill the blacks’: The racist social media chat name that ended Amador football season
A player on the Amador High School varsity football team spoke to The Sacramento Bee about his team’s canceled season. The cancelation was tied to what the Amador County Unified School District office described was a “highly inappropriate group chat” that led to the forfeit of a nonleague game on Sept. 16 and an investigation into what happened.
The Sutter Creek school will be allowed to finish out its junior varsity football schedule. According to the player, who isn’t being named because he could face retribution, the name of the Snapchat thread that ignited the controversy was “Kill the blacks.” He insisted that the title was taken out of context and that it was not about race.
He said the group chat was created over the summer during a football camp in Lake Tahoe. About 15 players, the majority of the team, were in the group chat. They only discussed football, he said.
The reference to “Kill the blacks” was referring to a color of a jersey, the player said. He was unclear what jersey it referred to. When Amador coaches saw the group name, they immediately assumed it was a racist reference, the player said. By the time the Amador High administration found out about the chat weeks later, they forfeited a game shortly before kickoff against visiting Rosemont High School of the Sacramento City Unified School District. Three Amador football staff members remain on administrative leave, the district confirmed, pending the investigation.
The Amador player said that if punishment over the so-called misunderstanding had to happen, it should not have resulted in a canceled season.
“I think there should have been a punishment for those who were in the group chat or participated in what had happened,” he said. “But as for the context, it was 100% misguided to others.”
The player did not elaborate.
Amador Superintendent Torie F. Gibson said in a statement that she made the “difficult decision” to end the season because the investigation will take more than a month. The season ends Oct. 28. The statement Gibson released said that the “highly inappropriate group chat threat involving the majority of the varsity football team” led to the season’s immediate termination. She added, “The scope of the allegations escalated the need for an external investigation by an independent investigator, with some of the allegations being referred to law enforcement.”
Gibson also wrote, “the goal of this process is to obtain all the facts in this case in order to make accurate and sound decisions so that we can learn and grow from this situation and become better as a result of it. As the Superintendent of Schools, it is ultimately my responsibility to address any alleged violations of law involving staff or students. Staff and students are entitled to a safe, welcoming, and nurturing environment. This is our opportunity to live our values and beliefs, and we must act.”
Amador High removed the varsity roster off its school website and off of MaxPreps, a site in which coaches input scores, statistics and rosters. Bee emails to Amador head coach Matt Kantack and Amador principal Holly Rocha bounced back as “undeliverable.”
The Buffaloes have a storied football tradition, and the canceled season is a blow to those who back high school sports in the region. The team was 0-3 on the field. The forfeit to Rosemont left the Buffaloes at 0-4. Amador was scheduled to open Mother Lode League action on Friday against Summerville with following games against Sonora, Bret Harte of Angel’s Camp, Calaveras of San Andreas and Argonaut of Jackson in a regular-season finale on Oct. 28.
The Amador-Argonaut game has traditionally been a much-anticipated rivalry game. This contest was marked as the 100th game between the programs. Amador High opened in 1911.
The Buffaloes, under previous coach Bill Baker, reached the state Division 6-AA finals in finishing with a school-record best 14-2 record in 2018, a season that captivated the small community. Amador went 10-2 in 2019 but dipped to 0-10 in 2021.
Another social media incident rocked the prep football community in Yuba City days later.
River Valley High School of Yuba City forfeited its Friday game at Woodcreek in Roseville due to the discovery of a “disturbing” video depicting a slave auction, according to the Yuba City Unified School District. The Yuba County school district launched an investigation.
This story was originally published September 30, 2022 at 12:53 PM.