"USA! USA!"

Normally, I wouldn't have a problem with high-schoolers chanting "USA!  USA!" during sporting events.  I'm as patriotic as the next person, and we can fairly assume that all these kids are patriotic too.  But to say that the kids who chanted "USA!" after their basketball team's win were merely being patriotic is totally disingenuous.  Racist?  No.  Poor sportsmanship?  Probably.

Alamo Heights' mostly white basketball team had just beaten Edison High School's mostly hispanic basketball team on the court, and following the win, the Alamo students and players began chanting "USA!  USA!"  Both schools are based in Texas.  It seems pretty clear that the chant was intended to point out how much more American their school was than the hispanic school, impliedly referencing the high number of illegal hispanic (Mexican) immigrants in Texas.  Since both schools are based in the USA, it isn't a very persuasive argument to say that the winners were merely chanting something in victory that applauded both teams' efforts - if your victory chant doesn't point out who won, then what's the point?  It's pretty obvious the white kids from Alamo were expressing their patriotism and dissatisfaction with illegal immigration by using the losing, mostly hispanic team as a symbol of that illegal immigration problem.  It matters not whether the hispanic school is American, or whether any of its students or players are actually illegal immigrants - the point is that Alamo used the situation and the hispanic school as an impromptu symbol of illegal immigration and expressed their view on the subject at Edison's expense.

This situation is nothing like the "USA!" chant following America's dramatic win over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic hockey contest.  That game was essentially a proxy cold war on ice, not a run-of-the-mill basketball game between two Texas high schools.  One cannot compare the motive, intent, and purpose of Alamo's students' "USA!" chant to those of the Americans' cheers following our Olympic conquest of a sworn geopolitical enemy in 1980.

I can understand why the losing team was offended by the chant, and it was in poor taste.  But I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was racist or deserving of anything more than a lecture on sportsmanship.  Should they have done it?  No.  But let's not crucify a bunch of kids for simply being kids.  I agree with their patriotism and their view on illegal immigration, but to taunt an opponent after a loss with such gusto-esque disdain, as if the opponent is the actual embodiment of illegal immigration, is inappropriate.  Hopefully, these kids will learn from the experience and display better sportsmanship in the future and refrain from taunting their opponents, American or not.

Here's an article on it with lots of quotes about the gravity of the students' actions.  The quotes reflect a wide range of reactions, from allegations of racism and calls for stiff penalties, to the simple recognition that the students engaged in poor sportsmanship and should apologize.

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/school-says-%e2%80%9cusa-usa%e2%80%9d-chant-is-racist.html