LEHI (ABC 4 News) - A 12-year-old boy playing in a AAU Bantam League basketball game February 11 at West Lake High School in Lehi was called the N-word by a player on the opposing team, according to his mother.
Tamu Smith was watching her son, Isaiah, from the crowd, and said his demeanor on the court dramatically changed after the verbal altercation on the court. She said the referees failed to take immediate action against the boy who allegedly uttered the slur.
Smith said the other boy's father was quick to dismiss the issue because he is also black.
"You have two different perspectives. You have mine, and I'm saying this is not OK and then you have his dad who had all of these people that were saying, 'they're just kids,'" said Smith.
The game continued after the verbal altercation, but the situation escalated tensions among the adults in the crowd until after the game when they argued about the appropriate action to take.
"Isaiah just felt like because the adults were arguing after the game-- it was a mess," Smith said.
