Yes, This is a Nazi-Themed Cheerleader Routine
Image by Youtube
By Anne Cohen June 16, 2015
No, it’s not a Hitler Youth parade — it’s a cheerleading competition.
One of the teams competing in a cheerleading smackdown in the Mexican city of Guadalajara (in May) got slammed on social media last week when a video surfaced showing their highly offensive routine featuring swastikas, goose-stepping and “Sieg Heils” galore.
The cheery bunch included two dozen girls aged 10 to 16 and one boy, . All were dressed in camouflage and red armbands. In the ultimate act of subtlety, they also used a huge swastika banner as a prop and saluted, Nazi-style.
As Haaretz points out, criticism of the dance routine has mostly been leveled at those in charge of the competition, as some people point out that the munchkins probably didn’t realize that they were emulating a genocidal Fascist dictatorship.
But just to be safe, event organizer Enrique Casas has decided to keep the team’s identity secret because the commments “have been a little aggressive.”
“The comments have gone beyond freedom of expression … and have included direct insults against the girls.”
Right. I can’t imagine why.
Next time (because apparently, there will be one), Casas assures he will put safeguards in place “to avoid hurting people’s feelings.”
[h/t Heeb]
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
