Charges of Racism for Chanting USA…In America!

Um yeah it is hateful racism, chanting USA. ?WHAT?

Can you hear yourself in there? Do you realize how idiotic and dangerous it is to dilute the meaning of these words together? Racism and USA? USA is not a race and the audience starting the chanting after the game leads to a deeper story if you don’t get caught up in the whole racism crap.

What you are not being told is the small snippet of news that I heard on the local radio yesterday morning. The dark skinned USA team which is comprised of mostly Hispanics were mocking the "white kids" and goading on about the death of one of the "white kids" recently in a drive by shooting. I am sure that had nothing to do with the tension in the air (sarcasm). The chanting was a response to the situation and a response that I would consider dignified considering the circumstances.

Look, I have lived in the area for a long time. There has always been a tension with certain schools, Mexican vs white vs black vs rich vs poor vs snobby vs everything else. These punk kids, Mexican or not deserved to be taken behind the gym and given a good what for, for inciting racial tension by mocking the recent death and racist remarks made to the white kids. Instead what happened was the white kids are demonized for joining the crowd in response to and in defense against the initiators of the racist tension.

This is not about being politically correct; this is about a news reporter who knows what is going on in the country and took the opportunity to get their name/story on national headlines.

reply to post by DavidWillts


Sorry, but I am still not following you.

If anything just more confused.

Originally posted by thehoneycomb
reply to post by DavidWillts

 

Sorry, but I am still not following you.

If anything just more confused.

That explains the OWS avatar...

But has anyone explained how chanting USA is racist? I mean all the kids there are US citizens and even at sports events that put us up against other countries we chant USA and nobody seems to think it is "racist"

reply to post by DavidWillts


Just trying to understand what you find offensive about the national anthem. It was a question, not a personal attack. Could you please clarify your position??

Originally posted by seabag
In San Antonio, Texas, students and their school are getting some negative publicity over the audience chanting “USA USA USA” after a high school basketball game. Apparently one of the teams was predominantly Caucasian while the other team was predominately Hispanic. Both teams represent American schools and have American students!!

A local school district is apologizing after an apparent incident of racism at a boys high school basketball game this past weekend. When the final whistle blew Saturday, Alamo Heights celebrated a convincing victory over San Antonio Edison. Alamo Heights Head Coach Andrew Brewer said he was proud of his team.

"Tremendously proud,” Brewer said. “Tremendously. It's the best group of kids."

But it was just after the trophy presentation when the coach was not proud of the chant coming from Alamo Heights fans.

"USA, USA, USA," they chanted.

link and video

OK…sounds like a motivated crowd at an American sporting event, right!
WRONG!!!

San Antonio Independent School District officials took the chant as a racial insult to a school with all minority players from a school with mostly white ones.

On the KSAT 12 Defenders Facebook page, Santos Villarreal's post reads “this has to stop.”

SAISD Spokeswoman Leslie Price heard about the incident after it had happened.

"This is very disrespectful to our students,” Price said.

The coach, school principle and the entire school district have made public apologies for the chants of “USA USA”. What is wrong with us as a country? Has PC completely eaten our brains?? This blows my mind.

What say you? Was this outrageous or insulting behavior?

Let me ask you this... Were the Hispanic members of the audience equally enthusiastic about the chant and holding hands with the caucasian members of the audience as this was happening? or were the caucasian member of the audience taunting the hispanic members of the audience?

Honestly (and I am Hispanic) I don't think it is clear cut. I get away with all kinds of racial jokes among friends. And yet, in the wrong context the same joke or statement can be quite hurtful.

So it really depends on the context and the history. If there was a history of animosity between the two groups, then it is hard not to interpret the chant as intended to be a provocation. But if there was a history of friendship between the groups then it seems like playful banter. What do you think is the history? Do you think the Caucasians are really on playful terms with the Hispanics in that area, do they invite each others for BBQ and stuff? do they send their kids to the same schools as the Hispanics? or do they not?

It's all in the context.

Clearly, the way the story is presented is both lacking the context and implying that the chant was patriotically motivated. Was it really? If I had been there I could tell you for sure. but I suspect it wasn't.

Those who are issuing an apology were there, so not knowing any more detail, I have to assume they recognized racial tension and intent in the chant.

-rrr

I disagree. Assumptions are rarely based on anything "petty." They are usually based upon previous experience and knowledge.

I've seen the bad side of assumptions far too many times. Here are some examples:

For instance, a woman commits suicide because people assumes she's a lesbian and teases her horribly.

A man obviously guilty of being a child molester when merely accused just because he's a man. The only thing men want is sex after all, and they don't care how they get it.

All Jews are legitimate targets. Why? Because Israel has a draft that all citizens must spend one year in the military. So, because the Jews have the potential of being in the military, and because they've all been in the military, it's once a soldier always and forever soldier, for all Jews everywhere in the world, so that makes them all, each and every single one of them, legitimize targets. I'm not joking on this one, this is how it's been explained to me before in the past.

The discrimination against atheists because atheists are the most distrusted group of people in America because they don't believe in god, then they can't be moral because morality only comes from God.They're more distrusted in this country than Jews or homosexuals even.

If you're conservative, you're a racist teabagger, and all conservatives are racist teabaggers.

If you're a liberal, you're obviously a socialist hippie pothead.

Homosexuals will bring an end to this country if they're allowed to be married!

And there's a lot more examples to list.

All assumptions are based on petty bigotries and prejudices, your bar example notwithstanding.

reply to post by EvilSadamClone


I agree with all of your examples, but I think you underestimate the hundreds of other harmless assumptions we make each and every day. I assume if someone has their turn signal on, then they are going to turn, it works for me about 99% of the time, but there was that one idiot that t-boned me when he decided NOT to turn! I assume the work I put in my assistants box will go out that day, but there are those times when it doesn't happen, etc., etc.

Not all assumptions are bad ones, but the ones you name are certainly good examples of racism and bigotry that are harmful. I think the people that make those harmful types of assumptions are not as common as they seem. I know they exist, but I think they are a small minority of folks.

reply to post by seabag


HAHA that is funny. They might be hispanic but they live in the USA so they need to show a little respect to the country that pays their bills cuz we all know hispanics are on financial aid and government housing. lol

When do you ever see a rich hispanic man driving a bmw...never...unless hes a drug dealer.

Originally posted by Evanzsayz
reply to post by seabag

 

When do you ever see a rich hispanic man driving a bmw...never...unless hes a drug dealer.

edit on 8-3-2012 by Evanzsayz because: (no reason given)

Now see there? That is a real racist comment.

reply to post by DavidWillts


Racists or not it's the truth.

reply to post by DavidWillts


and according to you so is the national anthem.

Originally posted by thehoneycomb
reply to post by DavidWillts

 

and according to you so is the national anthem.

You need to read the link i posted, if you still don't get it blame your reading ability not me

reply to post by DavidWillts

Originally posted by DavidWillts
I think this type of racist behavior is taught by professional athletes. I tried to watch the Superbowl once...ONCE. It was all fun until they brought someone out and started singing the national anthem. It really felt like they were just screaming "I am American and i want to kill you" at me. I am 1/4 Indian so naturally i was offended, i was thinking what is this Nazi Germany?
I don't even leave the house on the fourth of July, it just feels like America sets that day aside to hate everyone. The behavior of these racist little monsters is really just a sign of the times.

Did I miss something here?

I asked you to clarify your position, but instead you just keep talking about racism.

I just watched this on hln news

bad decision my ass.

maybe they if they can't chant USA in the USA

then where can they chant it? Spain?

grown some balls spanyards.

This is not racism.

If they were chanting *mexicans suck* OK
that would be racist.

All they were saying was USA USA USA

If people can not except that, then so be it...

Originally posted by Nucleardiver

Originally posted by seabag

Originally posted by RealSpoke
I'm sure the kids chanted it in a racial way. No one chants USA for no reason at a sports game.

It was disrespectful. People get too serious over competition and take the fun out of it

This Politically Correct world some would like us to conform to is disturbing to me. This is America and chanting USA should never be frowned upon regardless who it offends. What happened to the first amendment?

Political Correctness is code for anti-first amendment, plain and simple.

Only in those cases that other freedoms can be taken away as punishment, such as loosing a job over it, or ending in jail.

I agree with you that generally political correctness has gone too far. People should not have to be overly concerned with how their statements might be offensive to others if they are not intended to be offensive.

But if you say something intended to be offensive you have to have the balls to face the blowback and own up to your words. If I chanted something to provoke divisiveness and then *claimed* that it was just out of patriotism, I would hate myself for being a pussy, that's just me. People should own up to what they say and stand behind it. I am not saying that this is what happened in this case, since, I guess one would have to be there to really understand the full context.

The first amendment does not relieve an individual from having to deal with the consequences and potential social blow back of their speech.

-rrr

Originally posted by popsmayhem
This is not racism.

If they were chanting *mexicans suck* OK
that would be racist.

All they were saying was USA USA USA

If people can not except that, then so be it...

edit on 8-3-2012 by popsmayhem because: (no reason given)

But, their intentions were exactly the same, so what is the difference? They were masking their intentions enough to warrant the contraversy and give them plausible deniability, but it seems fairly obvious that when they chanted "USA USA" what they meant was "Our White School is better than your Hispanic School." If there intentions were the same, does it really matter that they loosely masked it behind different words?

The truth hurts don't it. I guess I'm a racist, and if you think so, then I will Wear it PROUDLY !! I'm white and born in the USA a Vet and make NO APOLOGY FOR IT !!! Take your cowardly political correctness and stuff it..!!

Originally posted by seabag[/i

I guess I’m just surprised that chanting “USA USA USA” ANYWHERE in America could be frowned upon.

It isn't about the phrase being chanted, it is the context.

Chanting "I love hamburgers!" is a harmless phrase anywhere you would decide to chant this (albeit a bit weird) unless you and your friends decided to chant this inside a vegan convention. Then all of a sudden due to the context of the situation, that phrase becomes inflammatory and designed to stir the pot.

So yes this phrase was an underhanded way of telling the other team they don't belong here, whether or not they are United States citizens.