East Lansing High School football players endured slurs, vulgarity at South Lyon game

Parents want an apology

SOUTH LYON, Mich.South Lyon High School and East Lansing High School went head to head in a district championship football game last Friday.

Before kickoff, someone caught a video of a person shouting an inappropriate comment at East Lansing High School players who were kneeling during the National Anthem.

The game was played at South Lyon High School. East Lansing Public Schools superintendent said they learned about the situation and other racially charged actions earlier this week. Both school districts are investigating.

East Lansing High School football players have knelt during the National Anthem since the 2020 season. At last Friday’s game, someone in the South Lyon section shouted at the high schoolers.

“We were like, ‘Did he really just yell that?’ And, ‘How is that respecting the National Anthem? That you’re yelling at while our kids are being respectful,’” a parent of an East Lansing player said.

Parents said nothing was done at that moment. South Lyon Community Schools looked at the video and spoke with people who attended the game.

East Lansing parents said the issues weren’t only with the comment that was made during the National Anthem.

Parents say the issues weren’t brought to their attention until after the game, when the kids were returning home.

“They discussed on the bus how kids were called [expletive], [expletive] lovers if they were not Black,” a parent said.

Video also shows a student being punched after a play.

Parents of East Lansing students want an apology.

Read: More local news coverage


About the Authors

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

Recommended Videos