California High School Faces Backlash After Basketball Game Erupts Into 'Where's Your Passport?' Chant Against Opposing Team
A high school basketball game ended in California with one of the teams chanting "Where's your passport?" at the opposing team.
The game that pit St. Joseph High School, a private school, against Righetti High School, a public school, ended in the virulent chant.
Righetti was losing 74-57 just as the game was wrapping up. In the final seconds of the game, their stands started the chant you can see in the video posted on Twitter.
The St. Joseph principal, Erinn Dougherty, stormed over to the opposing team's stands to let them know it's wrong.
However, Tom Mott, the coach for St. Joseph, was more understanding.
He told the Santa Maria Times:
"I honestly think they were unaware they said a racist thing. They did not intend for it to be racist."
After Dougherty chewed out the Righetti fans, she came around to the same conclusion.
She said:
"Just because I will not allow certain xenophobic statements to be made at my campus and I don't want racially-charged rhetoric here doesn't mean that I don't love and respect the students of this whole community. Not just the St. Joe students but the whole community."
"I think they were good kids who didn't realize what they were saying."
It is surmised that the chant of "Where's your passport?" likely stems from the fact that St. Joseph has three Puerto Rican players, who are U.S. citizens and wouldn't need a passport, and an international player from France.
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