A Sports Reporter Calls out a Racist Tweet and Gets Exposed for Her Own

Tennessee sports reporter Kasey Funderburg has been fired from all her reporting positions after her old racist tweets were exposed, per Knox News. Some Twitter users called her a hypocrite given moments before she was exposed, she had called out a Knoxville reporter for a racist joke. Though, a looming question remains: Did she deserve it?

The University of Tennessee reporter responded to a tweet by Richard G. West that said, “Tennessee will be announcing Dark Mode for the 7pm matchup this Saturday against Kentucky. All fans will be asked to wear black clothes and paint their face all black as well.”

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Funderburg allegedly quoted the tweet, telling fans not to fall for what would turn out to be one big blackface mess. In the now private tweets, she also called West’s comments disgusting. Though, somebody with time on their hands dug up some of Funderburg’s “disgusting” tweets from way back when. The 2014 tweets were littered with the N-word. One user recalled her tweeting, “I need a slave.”

As a result, Funderburg resigned from her role at Knox News, she was removed from VFL Films and “Vol Calls” and her UT profile was deleted. There’s now a petition calling for her to be reinstated at Vol Network.

“We want Kasey to know we are here to help and want her to have her job at Vol Network back and we know what she said was wrong but she clearly has changed because she was trying to stop someone racist and we love Kasey and her work at VFL,” read the petition.

Kasey’s swift resignation was certainly an attempt to escape the wrath of media critics. It’s worth considering that someone can redeem themselves from their racist trolling as a teen. Cancel culture has made it seem as though people can’t grow out of their ignorant ways. It has also forced people to apologize for actions they didn’t know the implications of.

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