If you didn't know that Maryland and Washington, D.C., had a rivalry, now you know.
A "basketbrawl" broke out Wednesday night at Baltimore's Connexions School for the Arts in the second quarter of a high school basketball game. The opponent: D.C.'s Cardozo Academy.
According to Fox 5 DC, tensions arose after a series of questionable calls by the referees inflamed the crowd, eventually leading to someone in the stands pushing a coach. Chaos ensued. Spectators cleared the stands and took to the floor to throw punches. Chairs were even thrown, injuring numerous people.
The scene got so bad that Baltimore police officers at the game had to call for backup. And pepper spray was even used to subdue the brawlers.
"We could have had better control of our kids," Cardozo High School Athletic Director Bobby Richards told the Washington Post. "It's unfortunate because [a fight] is the type of thing that we try to avoid."
Both the Baltimore City Public Schools and District of Columbia Public Schools are investigating the fight.
We look at this as another case of the viral "fight" video culture that is permeating our community. While there are many viral videos from other races and ethnicities that showcase violence, our community has taken the lead online. The fact that there were kids who immediately videotaped this just to upload it to a site like WorldStarHipHop tells you everything you need to know.
When violent videos of whites or any other ethnic group go online, it's looked at in horror. When violent videos of African Americans go viral online, it's looked at as hilarious. As long as our children have these outlets that willingly accept videos of black-on-black violence, unfortunately, we will continue to be exposed to these sad examples of behavior.
Read more at My Fox DC.