Chants by Connellsville students were offensive
Connellsville High School gained national attention when students, celebrating “Hick Night,” held a Trump/Pence sign and chanted, “Build that wall,” and “Send them back,” at black athletes from Uniontown on the foul line.
The incident sparked emotions and revealed that many people in the area are not aware of what is offensive to people of color and when they are aware of it, they don’t know what to do and often resort to defending it.
Uniontown parents shared their experience on social media.
Tiffany Watkins-Blaho’s Facebook post received almost 2,000 comments, most of them hateful and threatening.
“Build a wall. Make it tall. Deport them all. #C’villeOnTheRise,” was one of the more subtle comments.
Tasha May Walton stopped reading comments because it was too hurtful. “They were calling us (expletive) and monkeys, like it’s nothing and we don’t belong here. It made me furious. Man, does it hurt my heart to see so many people feel that way. My god, it’s really bad around Fayette County.”
Rational voices were overshadowed by comments that only confirmed what Uniontown already knew; the chants were intentionally hurtful and targeted toward their athletes because they were black.
Some parents were alerted to their child’s hateful posts and immediately apologized; others defended the behavior as part of the school’s “Hick Night” theme.
Their comments included things like, “…its sad that kids can’t have fun anymore.”
“It’s a chant. Did anyone get physically hurt? No. Just because they chant Trump doesn’t mean anything.”
“Are you speaking of the ‘Hick Night’ thing? I thought it was funny. They kept saying that cause that’s not offensive to anyone either.”
Connellsville Mayor Greg Lincoln said the theme reinforces a stereotype the city is trying hard to break.
Hick is defined as an unsophisticated, provincial person who does not attend college and whose characteristics include having an upbringing with racist and sexist opinions. This is not a term that should be celebrated within our educational system.
But Connellsville parents and students said this behavior extends beyond “Hick Night,” and is often ignored and goes unpunished.
“I honestly think (our kids) are just used to the ignorance, which is disturbing and sad. The children are numb to the pain to the extent that they don’t even know when they are hurt,” said one Connellsville mother, whose son didn’t mention he was offended by the chanting until she asked him.
Her son also told her about an experience with a student who said he wanted to go back to the days of segregation and urged the teacher to allow the N-word to be heard on a recording used during a lesson about civil rights. Her son said the classroom got quiet, but no one addressed the comments. Everyone ignored it.
Uniontown players, who say they aren’t used to racially offensive behavior in school, said officials ignored the chanting until halftime, which made them feel threatened. They said, afterward, they felt as if they should have defended themselves somehow, which is exactly what we don’t want.
Experiences like these stay with teens. The pain and anger affects their decision-making and their worldview. It makes them feel uncomfortable in their own skin, causing them to feel defensive, inferior and self-conscious. It’s discouraging, and it deters youths from following their dreams. It often hardens them and forces them to develop unsavory, rebellious characteristics due to feeling ostracized.
It’s important not to place blame and have honest conversations about these things.
It’s understandable if school officials don’t know how to handle sensitive issues or are unable to recognize offensive behavior when they have no form of reference from which to identify it.
This is what is meant by “white privilege.” It’s the ability to live your life oblivious of certain racially offensive behavior. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s the life we live. It’s the benefit of being a part of the majority race.
It’s time we start having the hard conversations though. To create nonthreatening, inclusive environments for all children, we must stop being defensive and resistant to the idea of these unseen privileges, so that we are able to recognize offensive behavior and know how to respond to it when we do.
April Straughters is an award-winning journalist having reported for the Daily Courier and the Herald Standard. She is currently working on an independent community project to serve the local area.