Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond (17) can't make a reception against Texas, Sept. 9, 2023, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
A video surfaced on Sept. 10 on social media included apparent University of Alabama Crimson Tide football fans yelling racist and anti-gay taunts toward the University of Texas at Austin Longhorns during a game the day before.
A video posted on Twitter/X showing fans shouting anti-gay slurs and telling Longhorns players to “go back to the projects” after the Longhorns bested Alabama at Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium in the 34-24 game, AL.com’ reported, as per The Bleacher report.
“Go back to the projects,” were among the taunts yelled at a group of Black Texas players dancing and celebrating their win. The video of the taunts had more than 9.4 million views on Twitter.
Parents of Longhorns players also described having objects thrown into the section where the team’s family was located, The Houston Chronicle reported.
On Sept. 11, the University of Alabama released a statement to the media regarding the incidents.
“We are disgusted by reports of vile language and inappropriate behavior Saturday night,” the statement reads. “To be clear, we condemn this behavior and it will not be tolerated in our venues. It is 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.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban has been called out in the past for remarks that had racial overtones.
In 2022, Saban went on a Twitter rant calling out Texas A&M University and Jackson State University for allegedly paying for top recruits to come to their institutions. This was when Deion Sanders was coaching Historical Black University Jackson State.
“Jackson State paid a guy $1 million last year that was a really good Division I player to come to school,” Saban said without proof during an event in Birmingham, Alabama. “It was in the paper. They bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it.”
But beyond Saban, the University of Alabama has had a race problem.
In 2020,former gymnast Tia Kiaku shared what happened to her when she was on the Alabama Gymnastics team. Kiaku said that at one practice assistant coach Bill Lorenz made a racially insensitive joke to her and other Black members of the team. Kiaku also alleged that white members of the team used the N-word around her and others as well as complained that they “did not want to hear her rap music.”
Kiaku filed a Title IX complaint with the University, but said she felt the University brushed off the allegations and did not fully address the situation, Bama Hammer reported.
Alabama wide receiver Isaiah Bond (17) can’t make a reception against Texas during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Sept. 9, 2023, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
