So this happened on Wednesday: I went to my son’s away basketball game at a high school in Jefferson County, Colorado. When I got there, the home team had a very boisterous cheering section of seniors, intent on having a good time — and taunting the visiting players. This is standard fare and something I’ve come to expect.
Here’s what I didn’t expect: when my son, who has an unusual last name and short, dark curly hair, was announced coming into the game, one of the kids from the seniors cheering section shouted out, “You can play now! Auschwitz is over!”
I chewed on this for a while. My son asked me to please not make a big deal out of this. He just wanted to leave the game, which his team lost, behind.
And I went back to work, thinking about plans for Netroots Nation, even working on promoting the sale of T-shirts that say “We are the Resistance” and “Women are the Resistance, “ to raise money to bring more young activists to the convention.
And then I felt ridiculous. I believe in this message, that I am— that we all are — the resistance. And that means I’m going to take stands every day against this hate that’s all around. You can’t just buy the T-shirt, you’ve got to do something, too.
On Friday, I called the athletic director at this high school, reported what happened, pressed the point that this is not just bad for his kids, but bad for society. He assured me that he’d be talking to them, counseling them about their behavior. We’ll see.