Five So. Miss. band members scholarships revoked for racist chant

The University of Southern Mississippi revoked the scholarships of five members of its pep band today after the students took part in a racially insensitive chant toward a Kansas State University player during the second round of the NCAA Tournament last week. Watch the video below and listen to what they said (email subscribers click here). You can hear it clearly at the 18-second mark.



Angel Rodriguez is a freshman at Kansas State and a native of Puerto Rico. We all know it was ignorant for the band members to yell "Where's your Green Card?" at him. Do we know why it was ignorant, though? I'm talking about delving much deeper than the obvious swipe at Rodriguez's Latin heritage. You see, racism has a direct relationship with ignorance. Racism is born of, feeds from, and exists through ignorance. Please indulge me for a few moments while I put on my social studies teacher cap. Ready class? Here we go.

Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States as a result of the Spanish-American War in 1898. It has been a U.S. Territory ever since. Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States as established by the Jones Act of 1917. That's right. Every Puerto Rican you and I know and probably ever met is an American citizen - no Green Cards or special papers required. Angel Rodriguez and his family have the same rights you and I do. The only thing he can do differently now that his family lives in Miami is vote for President - which you cannot do in Puerto Rico because it is not a state.

Let me be clear. No one can vote for federal offices while residing in Puerto Rico. Neither Angel Rodriguez nor Solomon Alexander can vote for President while living in Puerto Rico. We both can do so from Miami and St. Louis respectively. Guess what the official currency of Puerto Rico is. That's right. Those Washingtons, Lincolns, Jacksons, and Franklins spend the same in San Juan and San Francisco. My hope is not to come off as condescending, but informative. When we realize the baffling idiocy behind racism, maybe we'll do more to stop it.

My mom told me this when I was a boy. "Think before you speak. And if you can't think of anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." That quote works in the stands and in life. Until next time...

Be a Good Sport!

-Sol