MIAMI — Disney World has apologized for a controversial dance routine by a high school troupe from southern Texas that visited the park last week.
As part of the performance on Main Street USA on March 15, the Port Neches-Groves band and Indianettes belted out Port Neches-Groves High School’s fight song, whose lyrics include “Scalp 'em, Indians, scalp 'em!”
Video of the routine spread on social media after Native American attorney Tara Houska denounced the high-energy act as racist. “Shame on @disneyparks for hosting this,” said her post.
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Houska expounded on why the performance was offensive to the Native American community.
“You see not only this really obviously racist chant being said and a bunch of presumably non-Native people wearing fringe and putting their hands over their mouths and doing ‘war whoops’ or whatever,” she told the Florida outlet. “There’s that, and then there’s all the people that are cheering them on ... who are tacitly saying, ‘This is OK.’”
Disney spokesperson Jacquee Wahler told the Miami Herald that the Orlando theme park was not OK with the Port Neches school’s show, saying organizers were unaware that the routine would include offensive lyrics and that the band’s audition tape differed from what people actually saw.
“The live performance in our park did not reflect our core values, and we regret it took place,” said the email statement. “It was not consistent with the audition tape the school provided and we have immediately put measures in place so this is not repeated.”
The Port Neches-Groves Independent School District issued a statement of its own: “We are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in our school district ... our Board of Trustees is committed to always making the best decisions for our students, staff, and the communities of Port Neches and Groves.”
Port Neches-Groves High School’s social media pages, including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, have been made private since the controversy.
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