Be mindful
Why would you bring political signs to a high school basketball game? More to the point, why would you chant political slogans during the game at the opposing team?
Those were among several questions being asked after last Wednesday’s basketball game between the Connellsville and Uniontown boys basketball teams.
According to the parents of Uniontown players, a group of Connellsville High School students held political signs indicating their support for President Donald Trump and shouted slogans, which were popular during his campaign, such as “Build the wall,” at the Uniontown players when they were shooting foul shots.
As could have been expected, the signs and comments offended the parents and fans of Uniontown players in attendance at the game.
“It’s bringing us to tears to see the hatred. Things should not have gone this way at this game,” said Tasha Walton, whose son William DeShields is a player on the team.
“I just think it went too far with the children,” added Nichole Craggette, whose son was at the game. “It’s hurtful. These young children are going to be the future generation, and they’re going to leave high school and go out into the real world and have a say.”
To their credit, Connellsville Area School District officials talked to the students during the game and told them to stop the chants, which they did.
Connellsville Area School District Assistant to the Superintendent David McDonald said the school was embarrassed by the students’ actions, and district officials met with 60 students to explain how their words were perceived.
“They all kind of looked with their eyes wide open and said, ‘OK, we get it now how that can be perceived, and we’re embarrassed’,” he said, guaranteeing such an incident would not occur again.
However, that doesn’t erase the fact that the incident took place. It’s hard to figure out if the chants were political or racist or both. In fact, it’s impossible to know for sure what the students were thinking. But while McDonald said the students were surprised by how their actions were perceived, the students made the chants for a reason. They were expressly trying to rattle the Uniontown players with their chants and signs. That much is clear.
At least some of the blame can be attributed to Donald Trump. During his campaign, Trump made it a point to debunk political correctness and spoke often about how people should just speak their minds, regardless of what others think. Well, the chants and signs at Wednesday’s game were an example of what results from that type of thinking.
At some point, people have to take into consideration the feelings of others. That’s not just political correctness, that’s normal human decency. Unfortunately, that was sadly lacking at the game.
The hope is that the students now understand why you can’t just say whatever you think. They should pass that message along to their parents who also share some of the blame for this unfortunate incident.
In the end, let’s hope that everyone will show more tolerance in the future and nothing like this ever happens again in our area.