High School B-Ball Team Chants “One, Two, Three Nigger!”

Integration into America’s white society often places minorities in extremely uncomfortable situations. After buying into the idea that the best course of action to achieve success–college, employment/entrepreneurship–is to blend into American society and culture, people of color find themselves living in a world among outright racists, racists in denial, and genuinely insensitive people. This is the price that is paid to be able to “join in any reindeer games.”

In a town that is 97% white, it is clear to me why a group of young girls would find fun and entertainment in chanting racial slurs before sporting events. Being encapsulated in a town cited as one of the top ten “Great Places in America,” students must have exhibited some air of superiority.

Excluding Kenmore East High’s only African-American basketball player from their team chant is clear evidence that these teens of privilege were aware of the racist nature of their chants. It is also clear that they had no intentions of fully accepting an African-American teammate into their group.

This is the same position a lot of other minority peoples in the United States find themselves while attempting to gain access and inclusion into particular groups/organizations and American society as a whole–excluded and offended.