‘We told you so’: For Black athletes racism from college fans is a familiar story

So widespread is racist abuse from the stands that ignoring it is seen as part of a college athlete's job

I just remember that there was like a consistent chant of stand up, N-words' during the anthem and right after. And when brought to the attention of the BYU coaching staff there was no real response or sense of, like, alarm."

That's what a women's soccer player told us she and her teammates experienced in 2021 at Brigham Young University when they knelt for the national anthem to protest racist police brutality before a game. Four other teammates independently confirmed that they heard the comments in a story published in the Guardian last week. After complaints from the players, an announcement was made reminding fans to respect the athletes, but no further action was taken until BYU said this week that it was investigating the incident following the Guardian's reporting.