Yesterday we found out that Patriots cheerleader Caitlin Davis had been kicked off the squad after drawing male genitalia and swastikas on a friend then stupidly getting caught doing so because of a leaked Facebook photo. Now, Buck Burnette has been kicked off the University of Texas football team for a racist Facebook status message.

According to the American-Statesman:

Backup center Buck Burnette was kicked off the Longhorns Wednesday because of comments he made on Facebook, a person close to the team has confirmed.

According to those who saw the Facebook page, Burnette updated his status shortly after Barack Obama was elected president Tuesday night and wrote that hunters should get their guns. One of the people who claimed to have seen Burnette’s original post said it also included a racial slur. Others saw what Burnette wrote and posted comments on other sites, encouraging their friends to shut down his page.

Burnette’s page has since been deleted from Facebook…

His Facebook page listed his political views as “very conservative.”

The person close to the team said that coach Mack Brown learned of what happened Wednesday and made the decision to release Burnette for what he called a violation of team rules.

Wimberley’s Weldon Nelms coached Burnette in high school. He said: “It’s just one of those things where I think he was caught up in the moment. It probably was him and a couple of his buddies and they thought it was funny.

“I know the kid, and I believe in my gut that he’s not prejudice, he’s not a bigot or a racist.”

Yeah, Nelmsy, that makes loads of sense. It’s not like referring to someone by using a racial slur and talking about hunting them like wild animals is prejudiced or anything! Buck Burnette sure sounds like a big old diversity monger!

What is with these people? Do they not understand that Facebook is a public forum? Do they not realize that people will be offended by things like swastikas or statements about shooting the president-elect? If they’re gonna be bigots, it might be best not to broadcast it as though it’s news that they’ve saved an entire third world country’s worth of orphans from starvation-- at least if they want to stay on their teams.
 

Ultimately though, as a public educational institution, the University of Texas should respect Burnette's First Amendment right to express his racist prick self.