Associated Press
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.
The performance this week in the Magic Kingdom by the “Indianettes” drill team from Port Neches-Grove High School “did not reflect our core values, and we regret it took place,” Disney spokeswoman Jacquee Wahler said in an emailed statement.
An audition tape that the school had provided in order to be selected to perform at the theme park resort was inconsistent with the actual performance, the statement said.
Wahler said new measures have been implemented to prevent that from happening again. She did not elaborate.
In a video of the performance posted on Twitter, members of the drill team are seen tapping their hands over their mouths and whooping, as a drum pounds in the background, in what is stereotypically called a “war cry.”
Port Neches-Groves school district Superintendent Mike Gonzales and Indianettes director Cortnie Schexnaider did not immediately return messages seeking comment. However, the district issued a statement to KFDM-TV in Beaumont in which district officials said they are “aware of the concern regarding the performance of our band and Indianettes at Disney World.”
“We are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in our school district. Our district is nearing 100 years old, and our Board of Trustees is committed to always making the best decisions for our students, staff, and the communities of Port Neches and Groves,” the district stated.
According to a PN-G spokesperson, this is the 8th time that PN-G performed the routine at Disney World. The spokesperson says Disney has never asked ahead of time about the planned performance.
Port Neches is a petrochemical refining center located near the Gulf Coast about 13 miles (20 kilometers) southeast of Beaumont, Texas. The Indianettes have been a fixture at Port Neches-Groves High School for more than 50 years, according to the school district website.
8 comments
Charles
March 19, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Ridiculous
More garbage from AP and Disney
J L Blinne
March 19, 2022 at 10:52 pm
The name “Indianettes” is bad enough but the performance that is described is totally offensive and should never have been allowed to take place at Disney. How crude and obnoxious to our First Americans. Disney also saying they “regret” this occurring is simply condescending and absolutely unacceptable. Won’t be supporting Disney from now on.
Comment
March 20, 2022 at 1:37 pm
Between the Americas being shifted to the far corners of the destruct parts and paying we do not even know if anything will stanf
J L Blinne
March 20, 2022 at 2:34 pm
I do not understand your comment at all and what does it have to do with the subject being discussed?
Inmates are Running the Asylum
March 21, 2022 at 3:07 pm
In looking at older posts, I think “Comments” is actually a bot – either someone learning to code NLP (natural language processing) or it’s ML (machine learning) learning from the comments (and God Help us if AI learns from these posts).
That or someone one heavy medication.
Marfucci
March 20, 2022 at 3:42 pm
“Scalp ‘em!” The war cry of ticket sellers outside the Disney gates.
$200 per person to stand in line in brutal heat for 8 hours for a total of 10 minutes of rides. $10 bottled water and $15 fast food hamburgers. And the kids would rather be in the hotel pool all day anyway. If you never go, you’re missing nothing. Their CEO and employees think teachers should be be to talk to your 1st grader about sex and gender. And then be able to hide those conversations from the parent. That’s the kind of insanity running an almost trillion dollar company.
JD
March 20, 2022 at 9:56 pm
Disney has gone crazy with political correctness! Bout as stupid as removing redskins from Washington football name.
Impeach Biden
March 21, 2022 at 9:46 pm
Tear it down. All of it. Disney was built by white racists, and privileged white folks. I’m being completely sarcastic but what a bunch of Uber sensitive, social media psychopaths we have now in our society. Butch up all of you millennials and snowflakes.
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