Storm Lake players visiting Spencer High School in northwest Iowa were greeted by chanting student spectators at a mostly white school, per the Associated Press. Amid the racist chants, fans were also telling the Storm Lake players to "go back where you came from," along with chants of "USA."
The game, held on Jan. 19, was in the 1,900 student Spencer District, which is mostly white. Storm Lake, meanwhile, has a 2,400 student population, and 84 percent of them are not white. This comes from the schools' superintendents, including Spencer Superintendent Terry Hemann.
Hemann told The Des Moines Register that the students involved had been disciplined, per the AP.
Other chants, per The Des Moines Register, reportedly included "lock your car doors" accompanied by jangling keys, a reference to a Storm Lake student that was accused of stealing a car last year. Along with the "USA" chants, students wore red white and blue, which Spencer said it would no longer encourage. Hemann mentioned that the student section could only be themed with school colors moving forward.
"This isn't what Spencer or Spencer schools are about. It's not what we believe in," Hemann said, per the AP. "We had some students that made some poor decisions and we're using this as a learning opportunity and making better choices at the next opportunity."
According to Storm Lake Superintendent Carl Turner, however, the discrimination is hardly new.
"We're different than other communities in northwest Iowa and most communities in Iowa," Turner said, via the AP. "Because we're different, people jump to conclusions about us, but all I ask people is, give us a chance before you pass judgment."
Storm Lake is also going to ask schools that it's playing to avoid patriotic themes in student sections.
