CHICAGO — Students at Marist High School are upset after a viral video showed white students kneeling during a Spanish song at the homecoming dance.
A Latinx student, junior Elizabeth Pacheco, recorded the moment and posted it on social media. The video showed students taking a knee during the Spanish version of Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart.”
“If you love our food-ethnic fashion-and energy so much—why do you resent us?” Pacheco wrote in the video’s caption.
WGN blurred most of the video due to the age of the students.
A portion of the students said they felt disrespected when the white students took a knee during the song.
“How would you like it if we kneeled to your country music?” Pacheco wrote.
The video was posted two days ago and since has been viewed over 180,000 thousand times on Instagram.
The Marist student said no one was disciplined for their actions.
The high school’s officials responded to the social media post saying:
“We respect and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion for all and want every student to succeed by feeling valued, seen, and connected. We as a school promote cultural diversity and are providing professional development on cultural competency for staff and students.”
The school also said they are investigating what happened at the dance and will address when it’s appropriate.