The question of McAdory

Admittedly, I am late in discussing this story but I still feel the need to comment on it. I will first explain what actually happened to those of my readers that have not checked the national news. Last Friday, McAdory High School's football team played against Pinson Valley High School, a team that has a Native American as its mascot. Before the game, McAdory's students held up an offensive sign that said, "Hey Indians, get ready to leave in a Trail of Tears Round 2." The cheerleading coach, who normally monitors these signs, was on maternity leave at the time of this disaster. Obviously, this shows a lack of class on the part of the cheerleaders who made this insensitive sign, but what has followed this incident might be blowing things out of proportion. I agree that complaints needed to be brought forth, especially by those in the Native American community. However, McAdory has actually received threats for this one banner. My best friend, who goes to McAdory, informed me of an online statement that, paraphrased, stated: "It would certainly be nice if somebody shot up that school."

I will not deny that this sign has racist connotations. However, how are we to move forward as a society if our immediate response to racism is always to issue death threats? I remember, two years ago, there were these two girls on Youtube that were kicked out of school for uploading a video that repeatedly insulted the black community. Afterwards, the families of these two girls kept receiving anonymous death threats for their daughters' actions. In my opinion, responses like these make it hard to sympathize for those that are offended.