Cheering and chanting for your home team on Friday nights have been a staple of my experience as a Burlingame High School student. It’s always fun to participate in cheerful banter with the opposing team while cheering on your friends on the court or field. It makes students feel like they are part of the game, each cheer meant to encourage the home team and help get the win.
This all changed at our home basketball game against Mills High School on Friday, Jan. 12. Burlingame was losing by almost 20 points and the students on the home cheering section were dejected. There was a stark difference between us and the Mills students, who were spilling out of the stands: cheering, chanting and dancing. I looked over with envy — even though our impending loss was amplifying our low energy, our school had always lacked conventional spirit, regardless of our score.
The Mills team scored again. The other stand exploded in cheers as we sunk further into our seats. “We can’t hear you!” they chanted gleefully.
I looked around and was embarrassed to see that we had fallen silent again. But there was a small chant stirring in the back that I couldn’t quite make out. Then, it got louder and louder. “You can’t see us” it rang. Soon, dozens of students in our section were chanting in unison. “You can’t see us. You can’t see us.”
Recommended for you
At first, many of my friends were confused by this chant. So were the teachers and parents who were present at the game. But I knew exactly to what the students were referring. They were teasing the Mills team and students, who have a majority Asian population.
At school the following week, many teachers addressed the cheers in class. The administration announced that the school would be more vigilant in stopping disrespectful cheers, especially those that were racially charged. Student leaders went to Mills and apologized on behalf of the behavior.
As an Asian-American student, the chant was nothing I hadn’t heard before. Living in a liberal hub such as the Bay Area, many people think that we are so far removed from the culture of exclusion and racism from our past. Some think that enough time and progression has past that we can poke fun at it — that we’ve come far enough to joke about the stereotypes that separated us before.
However, the people who make the chants and jokes often aren’t members of the minority of which they make fun. They don’t have the authority to decide when it’s OK to move on. Even if their intent was a joke, they should be prepared to apologize to those who were hurt and felt uncomfortable. A good rule to live by: Don’t make stereotypes based on race for personal pleasure or amusement. We shouldn’t speak for others and assume their comfort to be the same as our own.
Priscilla Jin is a senior at Burlingame High School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.