Sports Reporter Exposed After Calling Out Racist Tweets

In Matthew 7:3-5 Jesus asks, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Tennessee sports reporter Kasey Funderburg must have missed Sunday School that day. Knox News reports that Funderburg, 26, a Tennessee graduate, and was a full-time employee in the athletics department has been fired after it was revealed that she had posted racist tweets while in high school. She also served as an on-air personality for VFL Films and “Vol Calls,” the popular weekly call-in show for UT coaches.

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 7 p.m. matchup this Saturday against Kentucky. All fans will be asked to wear black clothes and paint their face all black as well.”

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.”

According to Outkick.com, “Kasey Funderburg’s tweets came to light after she called out the popular troll account Richard G. West, which is a well-known account in the Tennessee sports world. West has duped many people on Twitter, including ESPN following the Vols’ win over Alabama.”

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. pic.twitter.com/c8Apha7KMU

— Richard G. West (@RGW_News) October 24, 2022

She responded to the parody account by writing: “THIS IS A FAKE ACCOUNT and it’s disgusting that this person thinks putting out a joke like this is okay. Please don’t believe everything you read on Twitter,” she posted.” 

Later in the Twitter thread, she posted: “A person who thinks it’s funny to put out that Tennessee is asking fans to wear blackface is disgusting. This is where I stand.”

Other Twitter accounts then shared screenshots where it appeared racial slurs were posted from Funderburg’s account when she was a high school student.” She has since made her Twitter private.

The Tennessee football team will wear black uniforms against rival Kentucky this upcoming Saturday. The school’s official brand guidelines state: “In 1891 our students declared that orange would be UT’s primary school color, and more than a century later, there’s still no mistaking Tennessee Orange. Our orange is vibrant, it’s energetic, it’s the color of the Volunteer spirit and the university’s tradition of excellence. We wear Tennessee Orange with pride, and we want our work to evoke that same sense of energy.

Black is not a color in our palette and should not be used when designing university communications. Fonts and any other elements that may normally be displayed in black should always be Smokey Gray instead.”

After news of Fundberg’s dismissal, one of her fans started a petition on Change.org for her to get her job back. Outkick continued, “The creator of the petition claims Funderburg was 14 years old when she posted the alleged racist tweets….A person claiming to have started the petition shared with us the following message: “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.”

“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,” the petition read. The peition has over 1,000 signatures.

So-called cancel culture across university campuses and on social media. In August, Twitter users attacked Little Leaguers as racist for goofing around with one of their friends in the stands and putting stuffing from a stuffed animal in their hair. Little League officials were forced to investigate and found out that the obviously not racist actions of 12-year-olds had “no ill intent.” 

During a recent interview, former president Barack Obama castigated the woke as “buzzkills.” He said, “Sometimes people just want to not feel as if they are walking on eggshells, and they want some acknowledgment that life is messy and that all of us, at any given moment, can say things the wrong way, make mistakes.” 

Tennessee Football has made a resurgence this year after its shocking defeat of the Alabama Crimson Tide earlier in the year propelled them to a number 3 ranking. The team plays Kentucky on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. former Tennessee wide receiver Jayson Swain will fill Funderburg’s role on the radio broadcast.

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