HATEFUL GYM RATS
‘Trump’ hoops chant at Latinos Fans shout ‘build a wall’ at 2nd school
DONALD TRUMP’S name has become a racial taunt.
Students at two Midwest high schools hurled ugly insults at Latino students, using the Republican presidential candidate’s hateful anti-immigration rhetoric and his name as inspiration for chants at basketball games.
Fans at Andrean High School in Merrillville, Ind., on Friday held a cutout showing Trump’s face and repeated, “Build a wall! Build a wall!” during a game against Bishop Noll Institute, which has many Latino students — highlighting Trump’s pledge to erect a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Four days earlier, students at the predominantly-white Dallas Center-Grimes High School in Iowa chanted “Trump! Trump!” during a basketball game against Perry High School, which has a more diverse student population.
Latino activists believe the real-estate mogul’s name now represents hate speech.
“People who have racist viewpoints have been able to successfully use ‘Trump’ as a code phrase for derogatory, racist statements,” said Joe Enriquez Henry, a member of the board of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation’s oldest and largest Hispanic organization.
“Somebody who’s angry and wants to say something in a nega- tive way to Latinos at a demonstration or when their team is losing can say ‘Trump’ or ‘USA,’” Henry added.
Andrean’s student section settled on a patriotic theme for Friday’s game, donning items such as flag bandannas and Captain America T-shirts. Some students dressed as TV anchors on a mock TV set for ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language sports channel.
One student held an oversized Fathead cutout showing Trump’s face. After the students chanted “Build a wall! Build a wall!” the rival fans responded, “You’re a racist!”
Andrean administrators and the Diocese of Gary, which
operates the schools, are investigating the shameful situation.
“Any actions or words that cann be perceived as racist or derogatory to others are antithetical to thehe Christian faith and will not be tolerated in any of our institutions,” ,” Bishop Donald Hying said in a statement released by the diocese.
Andrean Principal Rick Piwowarski sent a letter to parentsts Sunday, calling the students’ actions “inappropriate.”
“As soon as administrators were made aware of such activities, actions were taken to stop such taunts and confiscate items from the student section,” Piwowarski wrote.
Students at Iowa’s Perry High School were offended by the “Trump!” chants that were shouted during the fourth quarter of a Feb. 22 game.
“We are all aware of racism. It’s alive and well in small portions, but it’s alive and well and it’s just hurtful to see that’s what they resort to,” Kevin Lopez, Perry High School’s student section leader, told local TV station WHO-DT.
It’s unclea unclear if any students from D Dallas CenterGrimes High School were punished, bu but administrators ha have said that they “handled”“the situa situation. A handful of Dallas Center ter-Grimes stud dents met with a athletes from the rival school in the days following the derogatory chants.
Officials with the Latin American citzens group hope to sit down with officials at Dallas Center-Grimes and Perry high schools to discuss racism and hate speech policies and to offer assistance, Henry said.
Brent Wilkes, the organization’s national executive director, worries that anti-Latino rhetoric will intensify amid Trump’s (photo inset) success.
“When you stir up racial animosity and get away with it, a lot of folks reluctant to come out and support views publicly are going to start to come out,” Wilkes said. “It’s just the beginning of an avalanche of racial hatred that’s going to come out.”