A group of high schoolers in Folsom, California, are being told by school administration that they can no longer chant “USA” at events out of fear of being “inappropriate and intolerant.”
“I want to chant USA because I want us to pull together and help, not because I want anybody to feel left out or not a part of our country,” one mother, Natalie Woodbury, told the Sacramento CBS affiliate.
Some schools across the country have raised concerns over the chant being used in a derogatory manner toward other schools with minorities in sporting events.
Given these outside incidents, Vista del Lago High School raised its own concerns about the chant, sending an email to parents and students on Wednesday clarifying that this isn’t a blanket ban. However, the school wrote, “there is a time and a place to yell and cheer that.”
The school’s principal told CBS that the chant is more appropriate following the national anthem or Pledge of Allegiance rather than used against an opponent.