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In a perversion of Colin Kaepernick's kneeling for the National Anthem to protest the killings of Black Americans by the police, a group of White students were caught kneeling at a homecoming dance to "protest" a Spanish-language song.
The Chicago students were captured by fellow student Elizabeth Pacheco on Instagram both making disparaging, racist remarks to Hispanic students and kneeling while the song was playing.
The gesture was widely condemned across the internet.
Clearly these kids don\u2019t know the impact musicians like Santana and Selena has had on music that they listen to today— Shelly (@Shelly) 1634016564
it's because they don't know how to dance to it— TapeGod604 (@TapeGod604) 1634009448
Nothing like a former all boys catholic school to show nothing in their culture has changed since integration of \u2018girls\u2019 to the student body. 90\u2019s Marist left some male friends with PTSD. Embarrassing it\u2019s not changed.— SophieStoned (@SophieStoned) 1634034418
A lot of white boys kneeled and the hot girls danced on. A glimpse into what their futures will look like.— Vaxxed & Masked\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \u2620\ufe0fMemento Mori Memento Vivere (@Vaxxed & Masked\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \u2620\ufe0fMemento Mori Memento Vivere) 1634036383
The song the students were protesting was a Spanish cover of Billy Ray Cyrus's "Achy Breaky Heart."
"People immediately started booing and kneeling," said Pacheco to Patch.com.
"And everyone knows from the national anthem that kneeling means protesting — they were against the song."
"They started saying really disrespectful things about Mexicans and that's when I started to record."
This song is terrible but not because of the language— dr. Ben (@dr. Ben) 1634058410
At least we know racism is going strong in the next generation to.— Dave Geissler (@Dave Geissler) 1634009341
So much for the \u201cwoke\u201d generation, huh?— Tired of your bullshit (@Tired of your bullshit) 1634047392
How to easily identify the ppl you\u2019ll never associate with again\u2026.— LadyLovelyLumps (@LadyLovelyLumps) 1634010950
All I see are people who don't know how to have a good time unless part of it includes ruining the good time of other people.— Jimbo2011 (@Jimbo2011) 1634043434
Marist High School—the Chicago-area high school where the incident occurred—said they are "disheartened" by the incident.
"Marist's mission is to make Jesus known and loved. We respect and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion for all and want every student to succeed by feeling valued, seen, and connected."
But according to Marist students, this isn't the first time this has happened with the same group of people in their school. When Marist's kitchen staff began playing Spanish music in school, some White students booed.
Another used a fake, offensive Mexican accent, according to Maia Trevino, another student at the school.
Someone needs to show these kids the videos of their parents getting drunk and dance to Spanish music in Cancun.— GovAbbottIsBadForTexas (@GovAbbottIsBadForTexas) 1634043635
C\u2019mon @MaristChicago, prepare these men & women to live in a diverse world.— Jim (@Jim) 1634015961
When you forget you\u2019re raised in The Americas.— Food Scorn (@Food Scorn) 1634010618
I grew up not far from there - it\u2019s been like that since the 90\u2019s.— Roel Miranda (@Roel Miranda) 1634071395
The US is doomed— Still Bemused #Justice4Noah \ud83d\udc99 (@Still Bemused #Justice4Noah \ud83d\udc99) 1634048742
The school also expelled two White girls in 2016 over racist text messages shared on social media.
Still, Pacheco says her aim is to "educate students on racism and discrimination" properly, in order to foster an acceptance of all cultures within the school.