- The Washington Times - Thursday, November 7, 2019

A North Carolina high school football coach left his position after a video posted to Instagram showed him dropping a racial slur.

John Hoskins left his position of assistant coach at Knightdale High School after he said while celebrating the team’s victory: “White power, Knightdale! I still love you, n——-!”

“15 seconds of fame in the wrong way. I’ve ruined the last 12 years of my career,” Mr. Hoskins said to ABC11 in Raleigh. “Just to set the record, I’m not racist. I don’t mean it in a negative way.”

Mr. Hoskins claims his black friends in the past have allowed hm to use the N-word and said the heat of celebration led to it slipping out.

“I guess I’ve been around them for so long. We’re friends. I mean nothing from it,” he said. “The word can be used in multiple ways. They treat me as any of their own friends.”

He also said his majority-black team has also allowed him to use the slur to “joke around.”

“They walk up to me and say it. ’Hey coach, just say it. You’re a good coach. Just say it.’ Once in a while, it slips,” he said. “Once a year, it slips. To have them smile and laugh. Besides that, I mean nothing from it.”

Despite the video being deleted from Instagram, it was reported to school administrators who have a policy against using racial slurs.

Mr. Hoskins wrote a one-sentence resignation letter to the school’s principal and head coach to prevent him from being a distraction to the team.

School district superintendent Cathy Moore condemned the language by saying that even with context, it was “not OK.”

“Unfortunately, social media will show you a piece of something but not all of something. And this man is an adult. And he should know better,” she said.

• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.

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