Officials at Walt Disney World said Friday that a performance by a visiting Texas high school drill team that used American Indian stereotypes, including chants of “scalp them," doesn't reflect the Florida resort's values.
Photos and videos of the performance were publicly posted on social media accounts affiliated with Port Neches-Groves High School, and video of another part of the parade was streamed live by its journalism club Tuesday.By Friday afternoon, the club’s social media pages had been deleted or made private.
The school administration has repeatedly stated they would not change their traditions or mascot, including turning down a general offer from Adidas to provide free design resources and financial assistance to change the imagery.
According to a post by a parent in the school district, disney world wouldn't allow the cheerleaders to wear the full war bonnet they usually wear for routines, meaning what appears in the video was actually seen by park officials and approved https://t.co/bVk3Z8ncOu
— Jenny Nicholson 🎃👻🏆🦇 (@JennyENicholson) March 18, 2022
They were also still allowed to wear them backstage and pose with official Disney signage pic.twitter.com/ImBxFpMTn8
— Jenny Nicholson 🎃👻🏆🦇 (@JennyENicholson) March 18, 2022
However family of the performers are alleging that the headdresses were specifically pre-approved as part of the costume and then pulled by an individual employee at the last minute, and even express surprise that the scalping chant was allowed when the hats weren't pic.twitter.com/hwB95v5Wzo
— Jenny Nicholson 🎃👻🏆🦇 (@JennyENicholson) March 18, 2022
They have performed before in full headdress, nasty https://t.co/8jsCrs62tK
— sleepy bitch disease (@howlingblaster) March 18, 2022