A high-profile high school in one of the wealthiest districts of the San Antonio region finds itself under fire after its fans chanted "USA, USA, USA" following its boys basketball team's regional final victory against a team made up predominantly of Hispanic players.
As reported by KENS5.com, the Alamo Heights (Texas) High boys basketball team's regional title celebrations were marred by the aforementioned "USA" chants, which came from the school's fan section in the school's Littleton Gym.
While San Antonio Independent School District athletics director Gil Garza insisted that Alamo Heights boys basketball coach Andrew Brewer acted quickly to quash the inflammatory chants, the school at which they were directed -- San Antonio (Texas) Edison High -- filed an official complaint about the incident with the University Interscholastic League, the governing body which oversees Texas public high school extracurricular activities.
"I appreciate Coach Brewer taking the action he took to stop it," Garza told KENS5. "Our kids try real hard and work extra hard to get to the regional tournament, and then we have to worry about them being subjected to this kind of insensitivity.
"To be attacked about your ethnicity and being made to feel that you don't belong in this country is terrible. Why can't people just applaud our kids? It just gets old and I'm sick of it. Once again, we're on pins and needles wondering what's going to happen."
The chants -- which can be heard in the video from San Antonio TV station KSAT below -- and subsequent brouhaha overshadowed Alamo Heights' first berth in the state basketball tournament in 21 years, earned by virtue of a 50-39 victory against Edison.
The Alamo Heights School District will now have 10 days to officially respond to the complaint from SAISD, but the district's superintendent wasted no time in offering up his apologies for the fan section's actions, which can be heard in the video from San Antonio TV station KSAT below.
"Obviously, we were disappointed that this happened," Alamo Heights superintendent Kevin Brown, who reportedly apologized to SAISD officials personally, told KENS5. "That's not who we are as a community and that's not who we are as a school. It's not something that's acceptable for us. Our kids are very respectable. We have to remember that they're teenagers, and kids make mistakes.
"Still, there are consequences. We have tried to use this as a teachable moment for them. We have talked to our students. We've taken responsibility for it, although what happened is not representative of everybody who was there."
Meanwhile, at least one report noted that Edison students may have inflamed the situation by chanting "Alamo whites" either before or after the "USA, USA" chant began. Still, while that claim was reported by one San Antonio Express-News columnist it has not been substantiated by other sources (though it has also been perpetuated by Alamo Heights supporters online, which doesn't necessarily speak to its veracity or lack thereof).
While it may still be some time before all the consequences connected with the chanting incident are sorted out, the fans whom Brewer and other Alamo Heights officials identified as being involved in the chanting incident have already been banned from attending the team's state semifinal against Dallas (Texas) Kimball High in Austin on Thursday
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:08 am
by ChiOCat
The inflammatory chant? I'm sure there's a different sort of emotion surrounding it there but it does rub the wrong way hearing it's inflammatory!
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:53 am
by ilovethecats
ChiOCat wrote:The inflammatory chant? I'm sure there's a different sort of emotion surrounding it there but it does rub the wrong way hearing it's inflammatory!
ya, i think you have to look at all these situations differently. in this case, it appears the chanting of usa was meant as a slam to the opponents. the other team was mainly hispanic, so you can tell what the intent was. do these students chant usa after EVERY game.....or just the one in which they are playing a team with minorities? that seems to be the issue.
obviously, people can spin this any way that they want. but if you're being objective, at least from reading this article it was not pride in ones country....but a knock on a group of other americans that are not white.
i'd imagine that if bozeman high fans chanted usa after they beat butte.....it wouldn't gain any attention. however, if we played an all indian team from the rez, and decided to start a usa chant for the first time ever it might come across as not very smart.
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:02 pm
by TIrwin24
Doesn't matter. If "USA" is now being considered slanderous or whatever, we might as well be flying the frigging Mexican flag from our flagpoles.
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:02 pm
by SonomaCat
Let me just say that if some fans started chanting "USA" because they beat my son's team (who happens to not be white), mocking my son by suggesting he isn't American because he isn't white, I would be busting some heads (figuratively speaking, of course).
But if anyone wants to cheer that kind of racism (which is incredibly and ironically at odds with everything that American actually stands for), go for it.
Yeah, context matters. A lot.
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:11 pm
by SonomaCat
To point out the obvious, the title of this thread is bogus.
The article just points out that it is really stupid/racist to use a "USA!" chant when the team you beat is also from the USA, but just happens to have Americans of non-white ethnicities on it.
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:12 pm
by ilovethecats
Bay Area Cat wrote:
Yeah, context matters. A lot.
that's all i was trying to say.
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:17 pm
by SonomaCat
TIrwin24 wrote:Doesn't matter. If "USA" is now being considered slanderous or whatever, we might as well be flying the frigging Mexican flag from our flagpoles.
Go back to back to Scotland, you dirty Haggistani. Woooooweeeee! I just dun insulted one of them gut eating foreigners, and he better not whine about it because I'm an American. USA! USA!
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:17 pm
by wbtfg
High school kids do/say stupid things. This falls into that category.
Re: Can't chant
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:19 pm
by SonomaCat
wbtfg wrote:High school kids do/say stupid things. This falls into that category.
Exactly. It was good that it was stopped, but I can see how they would think it was funny without thinking all the way through the consequences.
But what I can't understand is why anyone would actually condone it.
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 1:49 pm
by wbtfg
Also it's generally okay to say "warm up the oven", unless......
this is madness! i tell my wife to warm up the oven several times a week. and i can't say it anymore?! might as well hang a swastika outside my home....
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:16 pm
by TomCat88
This is like a whole new trend. It has to have a name. Disguised Racism. Hiding Your Racism Behind the (insert) e.g. USA! Chant.
What are some other ways to do this? You could get in a minority's face and shout the words to God Bless America or the National Anthem.
If I were a minority and someone did that to me I'd sing Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World back at them.
Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:05 pm
by tampa_griz
TIrwin24 wrote:Doesn't matter. If "USA" is now being considered slanderous or whatever, we might as well be flying the frigging Mexican flag from our flagpoles.
How do you know their Mexican?
Re: Can't chant
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 9:26 pm
by coachouert
tampa_griz wrote:
TIrwin24 wrote:Doesn't matter. If "USA" is now being considered slanderous or whatever, we might as well be flying the frigging Mexican flag from our flagpoles.
How do you know their Mexican?
[youtube][/youtube]
Re: Can't chant
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:07 pm
by tampa_griz
coachouert wrote:
tampa_griz wrote:
TIrwin24 wrote:Doesn't matter. If "USA" is now being considered slanderous or whatever, we might as well be flying the frigging Mexican flag from our flagpoles.
How do you know their Mexican?
[youtube][/youtube]
Good work!
Re: Can't chant
Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 7:51 am
by TIrwin24
tampa_griz wrote:
TIrwin24 wrote:Doesn't matter. If "USA" is now being considered slanderous or whatever, we might as well be flying the frigging Mexican flag from our flagpoles.
How do you know their Mexican?
Call it an educated guess.
(They're, Their, There... not that tough)
Re: Can't chant
Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:05 am
by tampa_griz
TIrwin24 wrote:
tampa_griz wrote:
TIrwin24 wrote:Doesn't matter. If "USA" is now being considered slanderous or whatever, we might as well be flying the frigging Mexican flag from our flagpoles.
How do you know their Mexican?
Call it an educated guess.
(They're, Their, There... not that tough)
Yeah....I was on my iPhone. But not all Hispanic people are from Mexico.
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:10 am
by TIrwin24
Given San Antonio's geographical location and it's proximity to Mexico, I stand by my earlier statement.
Re: Can't chant "USA" anymore
Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 9:59 am
by tampa_griz
TIrwin24 wrote:Given San Antonio's geographical location and it's proximity to Mexico, I stand by my earlier statement.
Does that mean most Hispanic people in Florida are Cuban?
(It's....Its.....it's not that tough.) Spelling smack!
