Marist Students Kneel In Protest Of Mexican Song At Dance: Video

CHICAGO, IL — Marist High School students are accused of racism after a viral video shows a large group kneeling at the school's homecoming dance Saturday when the DJ played a Mexican line dancing song — "Payaso del Rodeo."

The video, recorded by junior Elizabeth Pacheco, 16, of Oak Forest, now has over 144,000 views on Instagram alone. Pacheco said she and a friend were enjoying the dance until about 8 p.m., when the incident happened.

"People immediately started booing and kneeling, and everyone knows from the National Anthem that kneeling means protesting — they were against the song," Pacheco told Patch Monday. The junior said it only got worse from there, adding that students who were partaking in the line dance were disrupted by protesters.

"They started saying really disrespectful things about Mexicans and that's when I started to record," Pacheco said.

Pacheco, at that moment, didn't know how else to react. She said when she returned home, she couldn't believe what had happened, adding that no staff stepped in to stop students from making racist remarks.

"That's what made me so upset, they were right by the DJ when it was happening, but they didn't do anything," Pacheco said. "I felt really belittled, and as a minority, there's only 16 percent of us at our school. I felt really disrespected."

The high school addressed the incident in a statement Monday, indicating they are looking into it.

"Marist’s mission is to make Jesus known and loved. We respect and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion for all and want every student to succeed by feeling valued, seen, and connected," the school said in a statement.

The statement continued with, "We, as a school, promote cultural diversity and are providing professional development on cultural competency for staff and students. Marist High School is fully investigating the events and will address them as appropriate."

Pacheco said the statements made by the school preach its core values, but that this isn't the first time a racial incident has occurred — "they talk the talk, but they don't want to walk," she added.

The incident, which happened to occur during National Hispanic Heritage Month, led to students protesting in school Monday, according to Pacheco. The junior said her goal isn't to bring down the school, but that she doesn't want it to be "just another incident that's happened at Marist."

"I feel like they kind of use us as a token or picture to make their diversity mark by putting banners, and asking for pictures with family during Hispanic Heritage Month. But this isn't the first time," Pacheco said. "Racism happens at our school, and I think it's really important for the school to educate students and there should be consequences and apologies made other than discipline.

"I think they need to educate them and have them change their ways and open their hearts for different cultures, to be respectful like we are to theirs. These are future doctors, teachers and lawyers — if they're going to act this way, I think now is the time for them to change."