Kansas Baseball Coach Suspended, Facing Termination Over Allegations That He Told a Black Student to Turn Off His 'N-Word Music'

Another day, another mediocre white man joins the “You Bout to Lose Your Job” chorus line because he couldn’t keep his racism to himself.

A high school baseball coach in Kansas has been placed on administrative leave and is facing the possibility of losing his job after he was accused of telling the only Black player on his team to turn his rap music down and referring to it as “nigger music.”

NBC News reports that Dave Flood, who coaches high school baseball at Olathe North High School in Olathe, Ks., was placed on leave Friday shortly after the allegations against him were posted on Facebook by the father of the Black student-athlete.

The father whose name is Tony Banks, according to the post, identified his son as Nyle Banks and described him as the team’s “varsity starting Short Stop, Batting Average leader and overall leader of Olathe North High School Baseball Team.” He also said that Nyle is the only non-white player on the squad.

From Banks’ post:

At last nights game verses Olathe South, during pre-game batting practice, Nyle and another player set up his phone with speakers and was playing Rap music as the team hit balls. The head coach, Pete Flood, heard the music and came over. He looked Nyle directly in his eyes and said, “We don’t play that Nigger (the long nasty version) music over here. We only play country and rock music”. Olathe North is about 40% minority but the team is not.

This is where I need your help. Natalie and I are heading to the school this morning 5/7/21 to force an emergency meeting with the Principal to file a complaint and block the coach from coaching again, including tonight’s game.

Banks also urged others to “call the school and insist on this racist coach’s removal.”

“To say something like that directly to a kid in the presence of other kids—this person does not need to be where he can influence or impact anybody, especially children,” Banks told the Kansas City Star. “My son was hurt through this.”

According to NBC, the Olathe school district swiftly released a statement informing the public of Flood’s suspension. The statement also confirmed that the coach’s alleged comments have been investigated and that the district has recommended that he be fired. (Which likely means Flood did that shit.)

“We are appalled by the remarks made by the Olathe North head baseball coach and have thoroughly investigated the situation,” the district said in a statement Friday. “The staff member has been placed on administrative leave, and a recommendation for immediate termination has been submitted to the Board of Education. The comments made are absolutely unacceptable.

“In the Olathe Public Schools, our priority is the well-being of ALL our students. Racist and derogatory statements will never be tolerated,” the statement continued. “This is not who we are in Olathe. Our focus now is on the support and care of our students.”

According to the Star, the Board of Education will conduct a special meeting on Monday to discuss the incident and Flood’s (hopefully shortlived) future with the school. According to the Star, he’s been employed by the school district since 1996, became the assistant baseball coach at Olathe North in 2003 and became the head coach in 2006.