Black Duke volleyball player says BYU heckled with n word

Source: Mitchell Layton / Getty

What do you get if you mix the state of Utah, a predominantly white Christian university, competitive sports, and a few Black women? Racism.

According to CNN, a Black women’s volleyball player named Rachel Richardson spoke out against the Brigham Young University coaching staff and match officials for failing to properly address the egregious racist taunting and threats that she and her other Black teammates experienced this weekend.

“Friday night in our match against Brigham Young University my fellow African American teammates and I were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match,” Richardson tweeted. “The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe.”

Richardson posted a lengthy letter to Twitter explaining what had happened and how it made her and her teammates feel.

Richardson’s aunt Lesa Pamplin, a candidate for judge in Tarrant County Criminal Court #5, was also in attendance and took to social media to voice her displeasure with the fans’ behavior as well.

“My Goddaughter is the only black starter for Dukes volleyball team. While playing yesterday, she was called a n***er every time she served,” Pamplin’s tweet read.