UPDATE: This past Sunday, we wrote the following column below calling out the Wisconsin football program for not going as far as they could in dismissing the disgusting racist fan who attended last weekend’s game dressed as President Barack Obama with a noose around his neck.
While we acknowledge that UW did everything totally correct to the letter of the law in handling this bigoted buffoon, they didn’t do everything that was morally right.
Wednesday Night, Athletic Director and former Rose Bowl Wisconsin football Coach Barry Alvarez released a statement addressing the concerns stemming from the game. Alvarez pledged to work harder, go the extra mile and make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Here is that statement below:
“I am deeply troubled by the incident from last Saturday’s game and I am sorry for the harm it caused. I am determined that nothing like this will happen again.
“I appreciated the opportunity to meet with a number of community leaders and students this afternoon to discuss our stadium policies. Our plan, before our next home football game, is to have a revised policy in place. Our department is committed to working collaboratively to make our stadium a great and safe place for fans to watch a football game.”
Barry Alvarez
Wisconsin Director of Athletics
Well done Mr. Alvarez. The opportunity was there to do what was right and you stepped up to the plate. Now, here is our original column from last Sunday below:
The first amendment protects your freedom of speech even when it’s hate speech. Yes, even when it’s bigoted and threatening and implying the advocacy of violence against the leader of the free world, it’s still constitutionally protected.
This fan, a basket of deplorables all by himself, has a right to show his racist, repugnant true self out in public. However, I don’t think he should have had a right to stay in the venue, for the remainder of #11 Wisconsin’s 23-17 overtime victory over #7 Nebraska.
While the Wisconsin football program did the right thing in making him remove his repulsive outfit, they did not do the right thing in letting him stay at Camp Randall Stadium; or even admitting him inside the venue in the first place.
Racist Wisconsin Thugs With Noose Around President Obama Costume’s Neck (Photos) https://t.co/ovaMIRMDA7 via @jshector pic.twitter.com/18OTIRuUgV
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) October 30, 2016
At the @UWBadgers game and there is a man with a mask of President Obama and a noose. This is racism, why was this allowed into the stadium? pic.twitter.com/zKEqhdDYny
— Ka(n)ti(fa)e (@woahohkatie) October 29, 2016
Here’s the full statement from the Wisconsin football program sent out late last night:
During the first half of this evening’s Wisconsin football game against Nebraska, UW officials were made aware that an individual in the seating bowl had donned a highly insensitive and offensive costume. UW Athletics’ guest services staff were dispatched to the individual’s seating area where they asked him to remove the offensive components of the costume. He complied.
UW Athletics’ policy regarding admission into the stadium with a costume stipulates that no one may be wearing a mask upon entering the facility. Once inside, it is permissible to wear a mask. The costume, while repugnant AND COUNTER TO THE VALUES OF THE UNIVERSITY AND ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT, was an exercise of the individual’s right to free speech. The university also exercised its rights by asking the individual to remove the offensive parts of the costume.
UW-Madison is dedicated to promoting a campus environment where all people feel valued, safe and able to thrive. To that end, the university continues to encourage all of our community members to engage in discussion over vital issues in ways that promote greater understanding and respect for all persons.
So the fan complied and was thus allowed to stay. Should he have been allowed to though? Logically, you would think that a fan dressed like this was very likely to incite incidents of violence at your venue. Although this fan is repulsive, and expressed deplorable unacceptable “political views,” he was in serious danger of being physically harmed. I would not stand for this kind of behavior in my place of business. No, he did not do anything illegal, but you can lawfully and constitutionally evict people from your establishment even if they have not gone so far as to actually break the law.
Bars do it all the time, and this guy was over-served on racism with a bigotry chaser.
Same goes for the innocent bystanders near him. Same goes for anyone else that could have been involved in a physical altercation with the fan. This was a potential power keg, especially so in 2016, a year that’s been defined by violence inspired from racial injustices.
The Wisconsin football program just didn’t go far enough. Perhaps they were worried about getting sued by the fan for calling for his removal? I can’t think of any other justification for why he was allowed to remain at the game, simply because he “complied” with removing the noose and mask.
We’ve seen this kind of racist behavior at SEC schools in recent years, and it usually comes out on Halloween. While still extremely disturbing and horribly offensive, you actually have come to expect this kind of thing in The South.
I still can’t believe I’m seeing this egregiously racist disrespect to the Commander-in-Chief at the University of Wisconsin however.
Madison, Wisconsin has a reputation for enlightened, forward thinking. Being socially progressive is an ideal that’s even built in to past University of Wisconsin official slogans. The UW and the Wisconsin football staff should have been more proactive here in making an example of this deplorable. They failed to exhibit socially progressive forward thought in this instance.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.