The University of Maryland club tennis team has been suspended after some of its members disseminated racist imagery online in the lead-up to a weekend tournament in College Park.
The images featured symbols associated with the Ku Klux Klan and other racially charged pictures, according to NBC News:
The University of Maryland club tennis team has been suspended indefinitely after it included a racist graphic in a weekend tournament program in College Park, the school said in a statement.
According to the statement from UMD Recreation and Wellness, the school learned that the team handed out materials with “a graphic containing racist imagery targeting people who are Black or African American.”
“They emailed this information to other university tennis clubs in the region about this weekend’s fall tournament at College Park,” the statement said.
The school issued a statement saying it “is horrified and expresses its regret and sincere apology for the harm that this has caused.”
The team was forced to forfeit its matches in the tournament. Team leaders also apologized and took responsibility for the racist images.
The graphic contained “a recognizable symbol associated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) on the first page” below the UMD club tennis logo, the statement said.
“KKK pointed hood masks complete with eye holes appear in the top right and lower left quadrants, replacing the Crossland coat of arms of the official Maryland state flag,” the statement described. “The imagery is a recognizable symbol of white supremacy, organized hate, and violence.”
Members of Howard’s team said they confronted the Maryland team about the graphic to raise concerns. Despite the team being suspended and investigated, Howard’s team said, “True accountability has yet to come.”
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One of the team leaders who received the tennis club’s apology was Toni Rachal at Howard University, a historically black school.
In a statement posted on Instagram, the team noted that she “noticed a graphic containing a recognizable symbol associated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) on the first page.”
The [obscured by notification icon] Club Tennis logo, KKK pointed hood masks complete with eye [obscured] lower left quadrants, replacing the Crossland coat of arms of the official Maryland state flag. The imagery is a recognizable symbol of white supremacy, organized hate, and violence. The inclusion of this imagery raises fundamental questions: Why was this racist imagery included in the materials, how long has this image been used in UMD documents, and what review process permitted it to remain there?
Upon Toni Rachal's discovery of the image, the HU Tennis Club team confronted members of the UMD Club Tennis Executive Board and raised concerns. While UMD removed the graphic, the UMD Club Tennis team was suspended, and a general apology was sent to participating teams; true accountability has yet to come. The HU Tennis Club team firmly believes that what UMD has done to remedy the situation is not enough.
I thought these universities were supposed to be bastions for woke ideology? How could something like this happen at schools that pride themselves on serving marginalized communities?
It appears these institutions are not quite as “woke” as they would have us believe.
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