As players from the University of Texas celebrated their team’s 34-24 upset win Saturday at Alabama, a group of ‘Bama fans showered them with racist and anti-gay slurs.
The 16-second video, which went viral, shows Longhorns players celebrating their win by dancing and enjoying themselves, which was too much for some Tide fans. I am reprinting the slurs because only alluding to them strips them of the raw hate and vitriol they represent:
“You’re a fucking faggot, you guys are all faggots. Go back to the projects, faggots, go back to the projects. Faggots. Go back to the projects.”
The players had way more class than the fans and none of them responded, save for flashing the “Hook-’em Horns” sign, but Alabama issued a statement condemning the slurs. From Nick Moyle at the San Antonio News-Express:
On Monday, Alabama issued a statement in response to the video, which as of this afternoon had over 6.4 million views, 17,000 likes and 3,100 reposts.
“We are disgusted by reports of vile language and inappropriate behavior Saturday night,” the University said in its statement. “To be clear, we condemn this behavior and it will not be tolerated in our venues. It’s not representative of UA or our values. We expect all attendees to act with class and respect towards others. 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.”
Parents of Texas players said they were also subject to abuse:
The parents of several Texas players also spoke out on the video and claimed they received similar treatment during what should have been a wondrous night in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Angie Wisner, the mother of freshman running back Tre Wiser, claimed opposing fans directed saliva and beer cans toward where she was sitting.
“The fact my son down there and they saying go back to the projects really just saddens my heart that as his mother no matter how old he had to listen to that!” Wisner wrote. “Love you Son! But the parents went through this all night! Beer cans thrown at us, water bottles, spit! Disgrace.”
Racism and homophobia are sadly the go-to slurs from a certain group of ugly people who have hate in their hearts and can get worked up over a football game whose outcome they had zero involvement in. If Alabama officials can somehow identify them, these people need to be banned for life.
