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High School Students Mock Latino Athletes In Omaha

Posted June 1, 2010 by Patrick Young, Esq.
Categories: Hate Watch

A championship soccer game in Omaha turned into a serious racial incident when students from Lincoln East High School from Lincoln, Neb., distributed fake green cards which were thrown onto the field at the end of the game. According to the Journal Star in Nebraska:

Several Lincoln East High School students were suspended Wednesday for making or distributing fake “green cards” thrown onto the field after the championship soccer game against Omaha South. “We’re focusing our attention on whose mind-set this was, whose idea it was,” East High Principal Sue Cassata said. “It was an egregious error. I don’t even have words to describe how despicable I think that was.”

Sixty percent of Omaha South’s students are Latino—and the green cards were an apparent reference to immigration status.

The incident cast a shadow over the East soccer team’s 4-2 overtime victory against Omaha South on Tuesday to claim its sixth state title.

On Wednesday, about a dozen students met with counselors to discuss what could be done to apologize and educate. Senior Lucas Hines said the group isn’t trying to defend the actions of a few students but to begin to rebuild relationships.“It goes beyond poor sportsmanship,” he said. “It’s a disgraceful way to act as a human, especially being a day of celebration, and their graduation.”

Senior Becca Ross said she knew nothing about the green cards until she ran onto the field with a crowd of fans when the game ended. “I looked up and saw all these green cards fluttering down,” she said. “I got out as quickly as I could. I was just so completely shaken.” She told an administrator, then went back onto the field and began picking up the cards.

Omaha South Principal Cara Riggs said she appreciated East administrators taking the incident seriously. “It really stings on our end,” she said. “Unfortunately it’s not the first time it’s happened with our students.”

Students don’t always talk about comments they endure, so when something blatant happens, “you find it happens more than you think.” Riggs said she also realizes it’s unfair to condemn the entire East population for the actions of a few.

“We know what it’s like to be labeled unfairly,” she said.

Cassata said administrators have interviewed 25 to 30 East students and so far have suspended fewer than five. She declined to give a specific number, but said the suspended students violated the district’s student conduct rule, which prohibits language or conduct intended to be derogatory toward an individual.

Something like this hurts the entire school community, she said, feeding into stereotypes of elitism that don’t accurately reflect East High. “We are a community that celebrates and embraces diversity,” she said.

East administrators have talked with administrators at Omaha South. They also have talked with students who accepted the cards, stressing they are just as culpable for condoning the actions of those distributing them, Cassata said. And, they talked to a couple of students who waved American flags because the flags hadn’t been present at other soccer games.

An e-mail sent to East staff members said they should use the incident to think about what they might change to better prepare students to live in a global society.

Students in some classes have said they want to write letters of apology to Omaha South students, Cassata said.

And on Wednesday evening, the student group that met with counselors sent an electronic message to all families at East, commenting on the gravity of what happened, outlining steps the group plans to take and asking for support in their efforts. Hines said the group plans to write letters of apology to the students and soccer team at Omaha South, to Omaha and Lincoln newspapers and to Omaha Latino community groups. They will circulate notebooks so students can write their own messages, he said. The group also will try to set up some exchanges or meetings with Omaha South students.

To Ross, the most important thing is to change attitudes at East that allowed something like this to happen. “I guess racism just really gets to me,” she said.

Associate Principal Dave Bell said he is proud of the students who want to help educate.

“That’s refreshing we have kids that are willing to step up,” he said.

While the incident itself is a disgrace, it is good to see that several teens led opposition to the cards and that the high school’s administration took it seriously and is using it to teach a lesson.

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