Catholic school apologizes after students mock Black football rivals as 'convicts' in social media post

A Catholic high school in San Diego has apologized after some of it students made racist social media posts referring to Black students on a rival high school football team as "convicts."

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that football players at the Cathedral Catholic High School posted offensive photos on social media in which they took aim at rival Lincoln High School, whose football team features a majority of Black players.

One social media post featured a Cathedral student wearing a shirt that read "Catholics vs. Convicts," while another post featured Cathedral players making gang signs.

Kevin Eckery, spokesman for the Diocese of San Diego, called the students' post "dumb" and said that Cathedral had reached out to Lincoln to apologize.

"This was not how you're supposed to conduct yourself, period," he said. "Bottom line is that this is an unacceptable way to communicate."

Cathedral Catholic Principal Kevin Calkins sent a personal apology to families of Lincoln students and chided the players for "showing both poor character and bad sportsmanship by posting and reposting two different social media posts with blatant racist overtones."