North Texas High School Students Taunt Border Town Rivals With 'Build That Wall!' Chants During Game

SNYDER, TX — Students at a North Texas high school chanted "build that wall" during a volleyball match with a team from a school along the Texas-Mexico border, prompting an apology from a top district official.

The incident occurred last week during a game between the team at Archer City ISD and their athletic rivals from Fort Hancock ISD along the U.S. border. The chant is a reference often made by president-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to build a wall to deter immigration from Mexico and other countries to the south.

According to media outlets, some of the chanting students at Archer City ISD also held up Trump campaign signs and a flag reading "Come and take it" in taunting the visiting team from from Fort Hancock ISD comprised predominantly by Latino students.

The challenge to "come and take it" was a rallying cry during the Battle of Gonzales during the first major fight during the Texas revolution.

Some spectators at the game uploaded pictures on social media platforms depicting the raucous scene while lamenting the incident, including the image below posted by Carlos Urias, a Van Horn, Texas, resident.

The Archer City school district is composed of 86 percent white students while the Fort Hancock district student body is 97 percent Hispanic.

Archer City ISD Superintendent C.D. Knobloch personally apologized to Fort Hancock administrators. He said the students involved in the incident would be disciplined for their actions stopped short at labeling them as racist.

“In my opinion it is stemming from the presidential election,” Knoblock told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “If we hadn’t had that election last week, this wouldn’t have happened. Our students are not racists. It’s as simple as that.”

For his part, Fort Hancock ISD Superintendent Jose Franco said he accepted the apology assuring the volleyball players that there are more good people than ignorant ones in the world, according to media reports.

“This really crossed the line,” Franco said, as quoted by USA Today. “Archer City deserved the win and we wish them the best, we are going to move on and remain positive.”

>>> Image by Loge via WikiMedia Commons