US high school cancels football season after slave auction prank

WASHINGTON

A high school in the US state of California has canceled the rest of its football season after a prank slave auction video surfaced online, according to a report.

Video of members of River Valley High School football team in Yuba City appears to reenact a slave auction with their Black teammates. The video was posted last week.

School officials received the video Thursday, according to CNN.

Yuba City Unified School District Superintendent Doreen Osumi called the video "deeply offensive" and "unacceptable," in a statement to the American news network.

"Re-enacting a slave sale as a prank tells us that we have a great deal of work to do with our students so they can distinguish between intent and impact," said Osumi. "They may have thought this skit was funny, but it is not; it is unacceptable and requires us to look honestly and deeply at issues of systemic racism," she said, indicating that some of the students may face disciplinary consequences.

The video shows three Black students standing in a corner of the room in only their underwear while their teammates yell out dollar amounts.