An article appears this morning in the
Springfield News-Leader that is very interesting. A group from Connecticut who were in Kansas City for a drill team competition were kicked out of their hotel early because of what the owners say was excessive noise. The group's leader says that it was because they were African-American.
Who is correct? Well it appears to me that they were thrown out because of being loud. Of course, the newspaper has framed the story from the information they have been given and it is possible they have left things out. Yet, from everything I can ascertain from the article, this wasn't a race based decision.
I have traveled with students on more than one occasion. We once took thirty-five students, which would be comparable to this group of thirty-two. There is no way that ALL the students were asleep by 1:15. Teens especially see trips like this as an opportunity to stay awake late into the night. They may have all been in their rooms, but I guarantee you that some were still making noise at this time. And unless the group had a chaperon for each room and they were stationed inside of it at the time, there is NO WAY the sponsor could know.
Do I think racism is alive and well today? Heck yes! We still have a major problem with it in our nation. Do I think it factored into this story? From what I can tell, absolutely not. It is a shame the race card is thrown around when it isn't an issue because what that does is ultimately hurt other legitimate claims that arise in the future.
