In the BYU-Duke volleyball story, a racist, a plethora of failures, and a hero | Opinion

What's certain about one of the uglier stories, in a sea of recent ugly stories, is that so many people failed a young Black woman named Rachel Richardson. You may not know her, but in a story with so many villains, she is the hero.

Richardson is a volleyball player for Duke, and the Blue Devils were playing Brigham Young in Provo, Utah, on Friday night. Richardson was called the N-word each time she served, according to her godmother, Lisa Pamplin, who described what happened in a Twitter post.

The Duke team later received police protection near their bench. BYU released a statement saying the fan who yelled the slurs was banned. Duke later also issued its own statement in an email to Paste BN Sports.

"First and foremost, our priority is the well-being of Duke student-athletes," Duke Vice President & Director of Athletics Nina King said in the statement. "They should always have the opportunity to compete in an inclusive, anti-racist environment which promotes equality and fair play.  Following extremely unfortunate circumstances at Friday night's match at BYU, we are compelled to shift today's match against Rider to a different location to afford both teams the safest atmosphere for competition."

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BYU's athletic director Thomas Holmoe told Paste BN Sports that he spoke with Richardson and Duke volleyball coach Jolene Nagel and the decision was made to move Saturday's match against Rider to an alternate site in Provo.

"My concern is for Rachel and her well-being, and the school has investigated up to this point. The bottom line is that we are going to have to do more," Holmoe said. "And we are going to have to be vigilant and continue to say that this is not to be tolerated in any way."

The statements said all the right things, but they were still far from enough. In fact, looking back, so many people failed in this situation. The racist who yelled that awful word of course did. That person has likely failed his entire life. The fans who sat on their butts and didn't react to the slurs also failed.

Maybe the players and coaches on the court didn't hear the slurs. I'd like to think that was the case. That is the only explanation for why the game wasn't stopped. If any coach or player heard them, and played on, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Pamplin wrote on Twitter that BYU did not immediately remove the racist fan. She added that the Duke volleyball team complained to the referees about the behavior.

If that's accurate, why didn't the Duke coaches have their team walk off in protest?

The fact an officer was put near the Duke bench shows at least someone was aware of how frightening this situation was.

It seems like, in that awful moment, Richardson was alone.

When you're one of the few people of color in a situation, or the only one, and you face the thorniness of racism, you look for allies. What makes this story so tragic is that Duke played on. BYU played on. No one stepped in to stop the game and fully protect Richardson.

Adding law enforcement protection at the Duke bench wasn't the answer. In fact, it showed just how dangerous the situation was for Richardson. Black people, like other people of color in the country, are increasingly targets of a white nationalist movement that's been energized the past five years. A white supremacist walked into a Buffalo grocery store and killed ten Black people. There was the attack at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. Hate crimes against Asians are on the rise.

Richardson's life could have been in danger, yet still, the game went on.

What needs to happen next is a full investigation by BYU. If the school simply tries to move on with nothing but a statement that simply isn't acceptable. They need to interview players and coaches and the question consistently needs to be asked: why wasn't the game stopped?

BYU also needs to do some significant introspection. Last year The Salt Lake Tribune reported how students of color at the school feel isolated and ignored. This passage from the story was striking: "There’s no place where students can go to file a complaint about discrimination, even as some experience racist comments daily," the report notes. "There are few staff of color, including just one minority faculty member in all of the school’s administration. And a few of the most prominent buildings feature the names of slaveholders."

Duke could also do some self-examination. If the coaches were aware of what was happening, and still didn’t pull the team, they may need to look as inward as the BYU coaches.

In many ways, this story isn't so different from what's been happening for so long in this country, but especially in recent years. The racism has become more brazen. The white hoods have been coming off. The lack of shame has decreased. The violent rhetoric has exploded.

Moments like this one must be met with the same equal force from the side of pluralism and people who fight for racial equality as the people who are pushing for the opposite. This is a lesson BYU and others need to quickly learn.

Like so many others, Richardson is a victim of this time. She's also more than that. She's a hero surrounded by a lot of people who failed her.